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WAR DEPARTMENT PAMPHLET NO. 31-142 

^ f // -z. 


CIVIL AFFAIRS GUIDE 


HOUSING AND BUILDING 
MATERIAL IN GERMANY 
PROGRAM AND ADMINISTRATION 



. declassified 

^ SEE EXCHANGE A GIFT WV, 

CONW&EHFIAL '1 


WAR DEPARTMENT • 22 JULY 1944 


CsUMSted Ml 









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WAR DEPARTMENT, 
Washington 25, D. C., 22 July 1944. 

"War Department Pamphlet No. 31-142, Civil Affairs Guide, Hous¬ 
ing and Building Material in Germany, has been prepared by the Re¬ 
search and Analj^sis Branch, Office of Strategic Services, and is 
published for the information and guidance of all concerned. 

[A. G. 461 (10 Jul44).] 

By order of the Secretary of War : 

G. C. MARSHALL, 

Chief of Staff. 

Official : 

J. A. ULIO, 

Major General^ 

The Adjutant General. 


Ilf 




I 







NOTE 

Civil Affairs Information Guides and Civil Affairs Guides are de¬ 
signed to aid civil affairs officers dealing with problems in liberated 
areas, each guide being focused upon a specific problem in a particular 
area. These guides are not basic collections of factual intormation, 
as are the Civil Affairs Handbooks, nor are the recommendations con¬ 
tained in the guides intended to take the place of plans prepared in 
the field. They are rather designed to point the factual information 
toward the making and executing of plans b}’^ those civil affairs officers 
assigned to this work in the theaters of operation. In no sense is a 
GuMe to he taken as an order. Such orders will be issued in the nor¬ 
mal manner. “ 'i' ■ 

This Guide has been approved by the Committee on Civil Affairs 
Studies. ' 

This document contains information affectino- the national defense 
of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Act, 50 
U. S. C., 31 and 32 as amended. Its transmission or the revelation of 
its contents in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by 
law. 


IV 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


SUMMARY___ ^“^1 

I. Analysis of the Problem_ 2 

A. The housing Position and Regional Distribution of Shortages at 

the Beginning of World War II_ 2 

B. Regional Distribution of Shelter Shortages Resulting from War 

Developments_ 3 

C. Measures Taken by the German Authorities to Solve the Shelter 

Problem_ 4 

D. Shelter Problems to Be Faced by the Occupation Authorities_ 5 

1. Changes in Dwellings_ 5 

2. Changes in Population_ 5 

E. Housing Shortages in Relation to the Prewar Production Potential 

of Construction Industries and Self-Sufficiency in Basic Build¬ 
ing Materials_ 6 

II. Recommendations_ 9 

A. Introduction_ 9 

B, The Immediate Program_ 9 

C, The Temporary Construction Program_ 10 

D. The Long-Term Program_ 10 

III. Appendix A. 

Table 1. Housing Construction in the Reich 1919-1943_ 11 

Table 2. Regional Distribution of Shelter Shortages Caused by 
War Destruction, Compared with Production Capac¬ 
ities of the Construction Industry and Output of 

Bricks in Germany_ 12 

Table 3. Bomb Damage by State, Province, Administrative Area, 

and City, as of 1 February 1944_13-15 

Table 4. Regional Distribution of Estimated Housing Shortages 
(1948) and Productive Capacities of the Construction 
Industry and the Output of Bricks in Germany (1937) _ 15,16 
Table 5. Requirements of Basic Building Materials, Labor, and 

Funds for Construction of Dwellings_ 17 

Appendix B. Evacuation Programs under the Nazi Government- 19 

Appendix C. Production of Basic Building Materials in Germany- 20 

IV. Bibliosraphy- 25 

V 




















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SUMMARY 


1. The shortage in housing in the German Old Reich has been 
increasing steadily since World War I. In 1939 there was a shortage 
of 1.5 million dwellings in relation to households. In addition there 
were about 2 million overcrowded and unsanitary dwellings in Ger¬ 
many at the outbreak of World War II. According to a German 
estimate made in 1938, 4.2 million dwellings would have to be built 
between 1938 and 1948 to cover these shortages plus normal demand. 

2. The normal consumption of construction materials for building 
dwelling units is only a small fraction of the total consumption of 
these materials, based on a stud}^ of the 1937 building program. With 
the cessation of war production, material which has been scarce dur¬ 
ing the war will be released for use in dwelling construction. After 
a short lag during which the building materials industry adjusts 
itself to the change in demand, there should be no scarcity of materials 
for a building program. 

3. The present war has affected the housing position, on both the 
supply and demand side, as follows: 

a. Supply .—New construction has been held to an absolute mini¬ 
mum, and lias been confined mainly to hasty completion of dwellings 
already under construction, to the building of barracks and other 
standardized types of emergency dwellings. 

Allied bombing has rendered approximately 1.5 million dwellings 
uninhabitable and has inflicted minor damage on another 4.8 million 
as of 1 February 1944. 

h. Demortd .—^The German civilian population requiring housing 
has decreased considerably because of the drafting of more than 11 
million men into the armed forces and the loss of approximately 1 
million evacuees, colonizers, and officials and their families to German- 
occupied countries. 

Population shifts through large-scale evacuations from bombed 
cities has aggravated housing conditions in certain areas. 

The influx of foreign workers has been housed in barracks. 

4. Military Government will have to cope with the problem of an 
increasing demand for housing because of the demobilization of the 
army, the return of evacuees and officials from German-occupied 
countries, and the internal migration of evacuees. The housing pro¬ 
gram is closely related to the problem of providing employment and 
rehabilitating industrial centers. 

5. Recommendations for coping with the problem are: 

a. To continue the methods used by the German authorities for 
providing shelter, i. e., requisitioning and rationing of rooms and 
apartments, organizing essential repair work, and building emergency 
dwellings. 

h. To leave the construction of permanent dwellings to the indig¬ 
enous German governmental agencies. 


1 



HOUSING AND BUILDING MATERIALS IN GERMANY 


A. Program 

I. ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM 


A. The Housing Position and Regional Distribution of Shortages at the 
Beginning of World War II 

Germany has had a shortage of housing since World War I. Con¬ 
struction activity ceased during the war and did not recover during 
the inflation period. In 1924 the currency was stabilized and the gov¬ 
ernment subsidized housing construction, resulting in an average 
yearly supply of over 250,000 new dwellings until the depression 
caused the government to Avithdraw its aid to housing in 1931. Con¬ 
struction dropped in 1932 almost to the levels of the inflation period. 
The Nazi party attempted to alleviate the housing situation by insti¬ 
tuting the following program: 

1. Utilizing potential housing space through conversion and remod¬ 
eling of existing dwellings. 

2. Building settlements of small houses on the outskirts of large 
cities. 

3. Increasing the unit-output of the dwelling construction industry 
by lowering housing standards. 

The result of these etforts was an average yearly addition of over 
300,000 dwellings to the total supply of dwellings until the outbreak 
of war. Table 1 in Appendix A gives data on housing construction 
in the Old Keich since 1919. 

In spite of the increased construction activity in the periods of 1927- 
30 and 1934-39, the supply of nev/ dwellings each year since 1919 
has been exceeded by the demand caused by the increase in the number 
of households. As a consequence there was in Germany at the be¬ 
ginning of World War II a shortage of over 1,500,000 dwelling units. 
In addition to this actual shortage of dwellings (in comparison with 
households) there existed an urgent need to replace dilapidated and 
overcrowded dwellings in slum areas. Germany has a very high per¬ 
centage of old and substandard dwellings; of 19,300,000 units exist¬ 
ing in Greater Germany in 1937, 13,500,000 were 25 to 100 years old.^ 

Technik, Gau Berlin NSDAB, 1940, p. 39. 

An article in the Frankfurter Zeitung^ 4 December 1942, estimated 
that at the outbreak of World War 'II, there were about tivo million 
unsanitary and overcrowded ^ dwellings in Germany. Overcrowding 
was most prevalent in the eastern districts (Kbslin, Schneidemuhl, 
Kbnigsberg, Gumbinnen, Allenstein, Breslau, Oppeln, Troppau, Aus- 
sig, Karlsbad, Oberdonau, Niederdonau, Steiermark, Kilrnten, and 
Vorarlberg), while the shortage of dwellings in relation to households 
was more acute in the western districts in 1933 but since then has 
spread throughout Germany. Doubling up of households was more 
common in large cities than in smaller communities. 


* Qeordnete Wohnunc/swirtschaft, by Dr. Ing. E. Frank, Sachbearbeiter itn Amt fiir 
Technik, Gau Berlin NSDAP, 1940, p. 39. 

2 Overcrowded dwellings are those having an average of two or more persons per room. 


2 



In 1938 the “Institnt fur Konjunkturforschuno’’ listed the expected 
housing shortages which would exist in Germany by 1948 as follows: ® 


Estimated Requiremeuts : in units 

For families without dwelling of their own_1, 000, 000 

For new families to be added 1938-48_ 1, 000, 000 

To relieve overcrowded dwellings-_ 900,000 

To replace dwellings which should be demolished_ 400, 000 

To replace normal destruction (40,000 p. a.)_ 400, 000 


Total housing shortage in Germany by 1948_ 4, 200, 000 


The greatest need on the basis of the above estimates appeared to 
be in the western industrial regions (JNIunster, xirnsberg, Aachen, 
Minden, Koblenz, Aurich, Trier, Pfalz, Dusseldorf, Westpreussen, 
Koln), in the eastern border regions (Allenstein, Konigsberg, Gum- 
binnen, Breslau, and Niederbayern); and in middle-sized towns. 

B. Regional Distribution of Shelter Shortages Resulting from War 
Developments 

Since the beginning of World War II, the pattern of housing re¬ 
quirements has changed. The yearly volume of new dwelling con¬ 
struction during the war has dropped to an average of about 100,000 
per year,^ the majority of new units being of a temporary nature, 
hastily finished, poorly ec^uipped, and conmied mainly to centers of 
war production. In addition, the industrial areas have lost approxi¬ 
mately 1,500,000 ® dwelling units through bombing, of which about 60 
percent were totally destroyed, and 40 percent rendered uninhabitable 
for the duration, while 4,800,000 units have suffered minor damage. 
Bomb damage up to the present has been heaviest in the western and 
northern areas of Germany, with special concentration in certain 
industrial regions such as the Ruhr valley, and large industrial cities. 
Tables 2 and 3 in Appendix A contain estimates of damage by regions 
and cities as of 1 February 1944. As the war progresses, other areas 
Avill undoubtedly be raided, dependent upon the shift in industries 
and the Russian campaign. 

An estimated total of 5,100,000 persons has been bombed out in 
Germany as of 1 April 1944.® However, bombing is not the only cause 
of population displacement. One of the measures adopted by the Ger¬ 
man authorities to solve the shelter crisis caused by bombing has been 
an attempt to evacuate from regions exposed to aerial warfare all 
persons who were not employed in essential industries or services. 
Under this plan an estimated 4,500,000 Avomen, children, and old per¬ 
sons have been evacuated ‘ from the bombed areas generally to small 
towns and rural areas in various arts of the Reich and of the occu¬ 
pied countries. Originally specific reception centers Avere set up for 
each threatened city in distant Gaue, generally in the eastern and 
southeastern areas of Germany, in the Protectorate, and in other 

3 Or. AA^alter Fey, Der KiinfUge Wolintings-ttnd tSiedlungshau, Berlin, 1939, p. 12. 

* According to Ley, Housing Commissioner of the Reich, 450,000 units have been finished 
in the 4 years of AVorld War II (Rheinisch-Westfdlische Zeitung, 31 Oct. 1943). 

®OSS estimate as of 1 April 1944; Mousing Commissioner Ley estimated the loss by 
bombing at 2 million rooms as of 31 October 1943, a figure which was slightly lower than 
OSS estimates of the same date. 

'' OSS estimate based on the average number of persons per dwelling in 1939, See 
R & A No. 142G. 

’OSS estimate based on the number of persons eligible for evacuation: children under 
14 years of age, mothers with young children living with them, pregnant women, non¬ 
working women over 45 years old, and nonworking men over 65 years old. 


601644—14-2 


3 












German-occupied countries. However, overcrowding in the reception 
centers and dissatisfaction wdth the operation of this scheme neces¬ 
sitated a change to the present sj^stem of evacuation to rural areas 
surrounding the bombed city. For further details on the evacuation 
system see Appendix B. 

Of the 4,500,000 evacuees, about 30 percent have lost their homes 
through bombing. The rest have left habitable homes, thus creating 
billeting space for an estimated 3,150,000 persons in the bombed areas. 
In addition to these evacuees, an undetermined number of workers 
have been moved with their factories. Thus it may be seen that 
bombing affects housing conditions in areas outside the bombed cities. 

C. Measures Taken by the German Authorities to Solve the Shelter 
Problem 

The German authorities have given a great deal of attention to the 
war housing problem and have endeavored to solve it by all means pos¬ 
sible without resorting to the construction of new dwellings. Because 
of the difficulties of obtaining labor and materials, all new construc¬ 
tion was stopped at the beginning of the war under the building-stop 
order of Todt, August 1939. Exemptions from the building-stop have 
been given in order to complete buildings in the process of construc¬ 
tion and to build new dwellings according to a priority system based 
on their war important. As the war progressed, new building has 
been more and more curtailed and additional dwelling space has been 
sought by the following means: 

a. Subdividing large apartments. 

5. Reconverting offices which were originally dwellings. 

G. Requisitioning vacated apartments. 

d. Assigning dwellings obtained by the above methods to families 
according to an established priority system. 

e. Evacuating nonessential population from bombed areas. 

/. Requisitioning excess rooms in critical areas (all rooms of a 
dwelling in excess of one room for each person in the household), 
and using these rooms for billeting bombed-out persons and evacuees. 

g. Housing factory workers in barracks or hutted camps near their 
place of employment. 

In spite of these efforts, the increased bomb damage to housing 
necessitated a further effort by the Nazi party to obtain dwelling 
space. In the Emergency Shelter Program ® outlined by Reich Hous¬ 
ing Commissar Ley on 14 September 1943, the following optimistic 
results were anticipated by the end of that year: 

100,000 dwelling units through reconversion of office space. 

100,000 dwelling units by completing structures stopped in the 
process of construction. 

1,000,000 evacuation bungalows. 

In addition to these, it was proposed to convert attics into dwellings. 
Most widely publicized, however, have been the evacuation bunga¬ 
lows, which consist of one large room, subdivided into a kitchen-living 
room and a bedroom. They are built by their ownei's with the help 
of neighbors, and although originally designed to be made of pre¬ 
fabricated parts, the emergency requires that only local materials be 

* Rheinische-Westfdlische Zeitwng, 31 Oct. 1943, p. 5, No. 515; “Das Deutsche Wohnung- 
shilfswerk,” by Dr. Ley, Reichstcohnungakommissar. 

4 



used. Permits to build, however, are only issued to those persons who 
can prove that they have access to building materials, a restriction 
which seems to have limited the program—only 2,100 bungalows had 
been completed by the end of 1943 instead of the million promised 
by Ley. These dwellings are well below peacetime housing standards, 
having no plumbing facilities, electricity, or gas, and allowing an 
average of only 35 to 50 square feet of floor space per person. They 
are built in communities in rural areas and each bungalow has 2,000 
square feet of garden space. 

D. Shelter Problems To Be Faced by the Occupation Authorities 

1. Changes in Dwellings. —The shortage of dwellings will become 
worse within the next twelve months. Unless there is a drastic change 
in Allied bombing policy (especially that of the EAF), the number of 
dwellings rendered uninhabitable by the end of the war will greatly 
exceed present estimates. Further damage to houses may result from 
land warfare. Most of the people thus dehoused will be sheltered by 
the methods described in the preceding pages, probably by means of 
more intensive room crowding and an extension of the program of 
emergency construction. 

2. Changes in Population. —The mobilization of men into the armed 
forces and the exodus of evacuees, officials and their families, and col¬ 
onizers into German-occupied territory has actually eased the over-all 
housing situation. The national average number of civilian persons 
per dwelling decreased steadily until January 1943; by January 1944 
it had increased, but was still below the 1939 average (3.42 as compared 
with 3.69). However, because of the lack of repairs and the tendency 
toward smaller dwellings the average number of rooms per dwelling 
has also decreased. There is at present still a slight reserve of rooms 
which could be obtained by strict rationing and a further dispersal of 
the population without regard to family ties or work ties. 

This trend will, however, be sharply reversed within the coming year 
and particular!}^ during the period of military occupation. As the 
war progresses, the evacuees, officials, and colonizers, estimated on 
1 January 1944 at approximately 1,000,000,® will return to the Old 
Keich. The demobilization of the German army and the requirements 
of the Allied armies will place a further strain on housing. In addi¬ 
tion to the actual increase in total persons needing shelter, the situa¬ 
tion will be further complicated by the internal migration of people 
caused (a) by the natural desire of families to reunite and return to 
their home cities, (&) by the rehabilitation of industrial areas, such 
as the Ruhr Valley, which have been severely damaged by air attacks, 
and (c) by the closing down of war plants, resulting in unemploy¬ 
ment. 

A countermovement will be the attempt of foreign workers in Ger¬ 
many to return to their home countries. There are at present an 
estimated 5,500,000^® foreign workers and 1,900,000,^® prisoners of 
war within the boundaries of the Old Reich, housed mainly in bar¬ 
racks or hutted camps, which will become available for emerg.ncy 
shelters. 

® OSS estimate. 

OSS estimate as of 1 January 1944. 


5 



£. Housing Shortages in Relation to the Pre-War Production Potential 
of Construction Industries and Self-Sufficiency In Basic Building 
Materials 

The accumulated housing shortages in the lleich based on official 
German estimate for peacetime deficiencies (as expected up to 1948), 
and on OSS estimates for wartime destruction (as of 1 April 1944) 
amount to approximately 5,700,000 dwelling units. In addition 
another 4,800,000 units are estimated to have suffered minor damage 
through aerial warfare, and they need immediate repairs. Additional 
bombing and possible land warfare may render many more dwellings 
uninhabitable. 

(Tcrmany is self-sufficient in the building materials needed for dwell¬ 
ing construction.^^ An analysis of the building program for the year 
1937, the year of greatest dwelling construction since World War I, 
clearly indicates the capacities of the German building industry. (See 
Appendices A (5) and C.) In that year G2.4 percent of the total 
production of bricks and tiles was used for dwelling construction, but 
a much smaller percentage of other basic material was put to this 
use. Dwelling constniction was allotted only 12 percent of the total 
lumber consumed in Germany, or 30 percent of the amount consumed 
in all construction, lO.G percent of the total production of cement, only 
4.2 percent of the total consumption of steel, or 12.6 percent of the 
amount of steel used in all construction. 

Brichs and tiles .—Because of their weight, it is important that 
transportation of bricks and tiles be kept at a minimum. In 1937, the 
brick and tile industry was distributed throughout the country in 
fairly good proportion to the needs (see table 4, Appendix A). How¬ 
ever, the post-war need-pattern will be different, especially if con¬ 
struction is confined to the rebuilding of bombed areas (see table 2, 
Appendix A). During the war the production of bricks and tiles in 
Germany has dropped to about 20 percent of its pre-war level—12,- 
500,000,000 pieces in 1937—but it can be restored without great diffi¬ 
culty. In bombed areas, bricks can be salvaged for use in reconstruc¬ 
tion. 

Lumber .—^Tn 1938, the domestic cutting of timber amounted to 
about 60,000,000 Fest Meters^ of wliich 28,000,000 were used in the 
building industry. During the war cutting was decreased to about 
53,000,000 Fest Meters and competition between military' and civilian 
requirements for barracks and huts caused a shortage which will be 
relieved after the war when military demands are eliminated. 

Cement .—Before the war, Germany was second only to the United 
States in its production of cement, producing about 15 percent of the 
total world supply. The distribution of raw materials has resulted in 
a widespread distribution of the industry throughout the country. 

Pre-war j^otential capacity of the industry was estimated at about 
10,500,000 metric tons; production during the war has fallen to about 
10,000,000 metric tons, of which about 80 percent was allocated to mili¬ 
tary uses. Thus there will be an ample supply for an emergency 
housing program after the war. 

The only raw material which might be in over-all short supply is lumber. However 
only a relatively small proportion of lumber goes to housing and it should be noted that 
the most vital need for lumber in the immediate post-war period will be in housing. 

A Fest Meter is a German term applied to a cubic meter of Rohholz, or wood from 
waich the bark has not been cut. A Fest Meter (or cubic meter of this type of wood) yields 
.7 cubic meters of sawn timber, or approximately 206 board feet of sawn timber. 

6 



Steel .—Such a small proportion of steel production is used in dwell¬ 
ing construction, especially in temporary dwellings, that it needs no 
discussion, particularly when great quantities of steel will be available 
for civilian consumption at the end of the war. 

Labor .—In 1937 there were 2,365,000 employed in the construction 
industry, of which 516,000 were engaged in dwelling construction. 
The total number of workers in the construction and construction mate¬ 
rial industry has declined only slightly during the war. OSS esti¬ 
mates as of 1 January 1944 place the total employed at 2,200^000. IMost 
of this labor has been employed on military construction and repairs 
to war plants damaged by bombing. After the war there will be no 
over-all lack of labor for dwelling construction. 

Fl-at glass .—Principal producing areas for sheet glass are West¬ 
phalia and Rhineland (including the Saar), Bavaria, Silesia, and 
Torgau on the Elbe (northeast of Leipzig). 

The following table shows total production of flat glass in Germany 
and Austria in 1937: 


Products 

Area in 
million 
square feet 

Percentage 
by area 

Production 
in tons 

Percentage 
by weight 

Sheet glass, plain and fancy _ . _ . . _ 

32r). 1 

90 

143. 000 

78 

Sheet glass, colored.____ 

7.6 

‘ 2 

3, (X)0 

2 

Plate glass_,__-.1. 

28. 5 

. ' 8 

37. 000 

20 



Total . . . . . 

GGi. 2 ;| 

too 

ISS.COO 1 

100 



Germany was the fifth largest producer of sheet glass in the world. 
The proportion of window glass is about 95 percent of the total sheet 
glass output. 

In 1929, the number of sheet glass works was reported to be about 
5,000, and this number had increased by 1938. 

Nearly half of Germany’s sheet glass production comes from one 
firm, Deutsche Tafelglas A. G., with three main factories at AVeiden, 
Bavaria; AVitten-Krengeldanz; and Kunzendorf, Silesia. 

Since 1931, Germany’s exports of sheet glass have exceeded’ her 
imports. Window glass exports and imports, as compared with total 
sheet glass foreign trade, in specified years are as follows: 



1929 

j 1931 

1 1933 

1935 

Imports; 

Ordinary window glass_ 

Total sheet glass __ 

Pounds 

67,129,000 
67,554,000 

Pounds 
29,949,000 
30,242,000 

Pounds 

18,556,000 
18,664,000 

Pounds 

18, 426, COO 
18, 542,000 

Exports: 

Ordinary window glass. ... 

8, 302,000 

54, 713,000 

36,095,000 

62, 230,000 

Total sheet glass ___ 

11,891,000 

57, 722,000 

38,341,000 

65,473,000 



Manufacture of flat glass in Germany is estimated to consume ap¬ 
proximately 200,000 tons of sand per annum, 40,000 tons of soda, 
60,000 tons of lime, and 250,000 tons of fuel. 

According to the German press (June 1943), the reduction in con¬ 
struction activity during the first months of the war caused window 
pane production to drop. It soon rose again, owing to tlie demand 
for replacement of Avindow panes smashed by air raids. Mechanical 
production and the addition of the Sudetan plants enabled a gradual 
increase in the output. 


7 































Despite this increase, it was not possible to replace all windows 
broken as a result of air raids. In the period of Military Government 
there will not be enough glass to meet demands. Rationing and use 
of substitutes will be necessary. 

It is reported that a new window-glass substitute {“BoUglas^^) for 
repairs has been evolved, consisting of a transparent, waterproof 
plastic. It can be rolled and cut like paper, and nailed to window 
frames. Unlike glass, it is flexible, and transmits ultra-violet rays, 
but will not stand high temperatures. Mosquito netting covered 
with acetate has also been found to be a good emergency substitute for 
window glass. 

Since August 1943 deliveries of sheet glass have taken place only 
on receipt of a glass coupon (Glasmarlce). 

Regulations effective 1 July 1943 give high priority for allocation 
of window glass to air-raid victims and armament industries. 

Roofing felt and 'paper. —Raw materials for the manufacture of 
roofing felt and paper are available in sufiicient quantities in Germany. 
The normal output of plants scattered throughout the country exceeded 
the domestic demand, and considerable quantities of roofing material 
have been exported in pre-war years. 

Requirenients for an emergency huilding program-. —Estimates^® 
of the amount of materials needed for each emergency shelter of the 
Ley type, described previously, indicate that 1 million such units 
could be constructed within the period of a year with the consumption 
of a slightly larger amount of basic materials than in the construc¬ 
tion of 310,000 dwellings in 1937; 8 billion pieces of bricks and tiles, 
5 million CBM of lumber, 2,000,000 metric tons of cement and 35,000 
metric tons of steel. Such a program would require 1,500,000,000 
man-hours of labor, according to FExV estimates. Man-hour esti¬ 
mates of MEW are lower—1,050 per dwelling of which 700 go to fab¬ 
rication and transport and 350 to site clearance and erections. The 
ditference may be explained by the fact that FExV estimates are 
figui-ed for unskilled labor and conventional methods of erection, 
whereas MEW bases its estimates on the original German plan for the 
use of prefabricated parts. 

Assuming that the production of construction materials in the post¬ 
war period returned to the 1937 level, and that a similar proportion 
was allocated to dwelling construction, a program of 1 million emer¬ 
gency dwellings is too ambitious, since as much as 50 percent of the 
materials allocated to dwelling construction may be needed for the re¬ 
pair of damaged houses. However, the proportion of materials 
allocated to dwelling construction may be greater than in 1937 because 
little or none will be needed for the construction of public buildings 
and military fortifications. 

Progress may be made by the Germans during 1944 in the field of 
prefabrication, Avhich will prove helpful to the Militaiy Government 
shelter program. Originally the Ley emergency shelter program was 
based on the idea of mass production of prefabricated parts which 
could easily be. assembled by unskilled labor with the aid of printed 
instructions. Up to the present, however, prefabricated parts have 
not been available and prospective builders have been urged to find 
their own building materials, through salvage methods if possible. 

3s i3j- .Y—gee table 5, Appendix A. 


B 



il. RECOMMENDATIONS 


A. Introduction 

Housing is an immediate Military Government problem only insofar 
as inedaquate housing endangers military security. However, since 
adequate housing is an important factor in creating conditions favor¬ 
able to a desirable development of the German public, IMilitary Gov¬ 
ernment may decide to take a wider view of the housing problem. 
With this possibility in mind, reasonable indigenous efforts designed 
to get a permanent building program under way should not be dis¬ 
couraged by Military Government. 

In order to cope with the housing problem, a shelter program should 
be developed in three phases, the first two of which should be the con¬ 
cern of Military Government: (1) the immediate program that will 
be required to provide emergency shelter to the homeless. This pro¬ 
gram should be carried out on a local level and should be in effect for 
the first month or two in areas of critical housing shortage. This pro¬ 
gram is mainly an administrative one and can be effectuated through 
decrees issued by Military Government and carried out by existing 
local government agencies, as suggested in the section of this report 
on administration; (2) the temporary construction program which 
should be put into effect in areas where the influx of population strains 
the shelter facilities beyond the capacity of the immediate program 
and entails the rapid construction of new dwellings; (3) the long-term 
construction program, which entails the reconstruction of damaged 
cities by building permanent structures according to modern stand¬ 
ards. This is not a ^Military Government function. 

The following recommendations are subdivided according to the 
three phases. 

B. The Immediate Program 

It is assumed that Military Government officers will follow the 
German scheme for providing shelter by exhausting available facilities 
before resorting to new construction. To tliis end, schools, public 
buildings, warehouses, hotels, barracks, closed-down factories, ^ or 
office buildings should be requisitioned for the iimnediate sheltering 
of homeless persons. Since the occupying armies will be requisition¬ 
ing the same type of structure for their needs, close cooperation will 
be necessary. Such accommodations could be used as temporary 
shelters while space was being located in more permanent dwelling 
structures. 

In determining the amount of space available in existing homes, 
use could be made of the files kept in the office of the mayor or the 
Landrat. The following registers may prove useful: 

a. Kegister of persons—an alphabetical card index of all persons 
registered within the jurisdiction of the registration office (citizens and 
noncitizens). 

h. Eegister of buildings—an index by address of all buildings, 
containing the names and addresses of the owner and the superintend¬ 
ent, and the names and occupations of all tenants. 

The above registers are found in the 125 local offices of the national 
police which are established in large cities, capitals of states, and 

“ See CA Guide on Police a-id Public Safety in Oirmany. 


9 



important industrial cities, and in the office of the vlvajov ov Land rat 
in smaller communities. These registers are under the jurisdiction 
of the Reich Minister of Interior. Duplicates of the local registers 
are kept in the Reich Statistical Office in Berlin. The registers are 
normally kept up to date through the requirement that everyone must 
register whenever he moves in or out of a dwelling and in or out 
of a town. 

c. Register of under-occupied flats, which is kept in the housing 
office in each community. 

After determining the amount of space in existing dAvellings, this 
space could be rationed through the enforcement of existing legisla¬ 
tion according to the present German emergency standards of not 
more than one room per person, or according to a standard set up by 
the occupation authorities. A suggested minimum standard might 
be 30 square feet of floor space per capita, as a subsistence level for a 
short period of time. The standards should be applied to towns and 
cities surrounding the city of critical housing shortage within a radius 
determined by the available transportation. 

Additional space could be obtained by organizing a program of 
clearance and repair of bomb damage. Such work will probably have 
been started by the community before Military Government arrives, 
and should be encouraged. 

C. The Temporary Construction Program 

Depending on the development of industries in Germany there will 
be a demand for the rapid construction of dwellings in certain of the 
bombed areas. Local needs could be estimated on the basis of the 
number of persons to be housed in addition to those which could be 
sheltered by means of the immediate program. Consideration must 
also be taken of the fact that the minimum standard of 30 square feet 
of floor space per capita suggested for the immediate program is a 
temporary one, and must be relieved if not by a population shift, then 
by the provision of more adequate shelter. This need could be met by 
extending the program of evacuation bungalows initiated by Ley and 
described earlier in this report, and by erecting barracks for single 
workers. 

Use should be made of local materials, even materials salvaged in 
the clearance of bomb damage. Production of prefabricated houses, 
which may develop on a large scale during 1944, according to German 
plans, should be expanded. Firms which have been manufacturing 
wooden barracks for the army could be converted to the production of 
dwelling houses. 

D. The Long-Term Program 

The building of more permanent types of dwellings may be under¬ 
taken by German building organizations during the period of Mili¬ 
tary Government. The only concern of Military Government offi¬ 
cials in regard to this program will be to see that speculative building 
concerns are not allowed to disregard existing local zoning laws or 
plans for reconstruction of the city which have been made in the local 
housing office. 


10 


APPENDIX A 


Table 1. —Housing construction in the Reich, 1919~//S ‘ ® 


Year 

Total 

Dwelling" 

Through 
new con¬ 
struction 

added— 

Through 

conversion 

Dwellings 

demolished 

Net 

increase 

1919. 

60,861 

35,596 

25,265 

4,147 

56, 714 

1920____ 

108, 307 

75,928 

32,379 

5, 216 

103,092 

1921...-.. 

141, 498 

108,596 

32,902 

7,275 

134, 223 

1922...... 

154,970 

124, 273 

30, 697 

8,356 

146,615 

1923........ 

125,940 

100, 401 

2.3,539 

7,607 

118,333- 

1924___ 

115,376 

94,807 

20,569 

8,874 

106,602 

1925...... 

191,812 

164,437 

27,375 

12,882 

178, 930 

1926___ 

220,529 

199,084 

21,445 

14, 736 

205, 793 

1927...... 

306,834 

284, 444 

22,390 

18,199 

288,635 

1928...... 

3.30, 442 

306,825 

23,617 

20,680 

309,762 

1929____ 

338, 802 

315, 703 

23,099 

21,120 

317,682 

19.30... 

330,260 

307,933 

22,327 

19,289 

310,971 

1931...... 

251, 701 

231,342 

20,359 

18,053 

233,648 

1932.... 

159,121 

131,160 

27,961 

17,856 

141, 265 

1933..... 

202,113 

132,870 

69, 243 

24,075 

178,038 

1934.-.. 

319, 439 

190, 257 

129,182 

35,444 

283,995 

1935..... 

263,810 

213,227 

50,583 

22, 778 

241,032 

1936..... 

332,370 

282,466 

49,904 

21,880 

310,490 

1937...... 

340,392 

308, 945 

31, 447 

20,335 

320,057 

1938....... 

305,526 

276,276 

29,250 

20, 257 

285,269- 

1939...... 

250,000 

220,000 

30,000 

20,000 

230,000 

1940...... 

145,000 

» 115, 000 

30,000 

20,000 

125,000 

1941.... 

160,000 

» 125 ,000 

35,000 

30,000 

1.30, OOO 

1942.... 

160,000 

5 60,000 

100,000 

‘ 100,000 

60,000 

1943.... 

254,000 

» 100,000 

154,000 

<900,000 

-646,000 


1 Including Saarland since 1935. 

> Figures for 1939-43 are estimates based on intelligence material. 

»Mostly temporary dwellings. 

* Bomb damage 1942-43. 

Sources: Leistungen und Aufgaben in Deulschen Wohnungs-und Siedlunesbau, Walter Fey, Berlin, 1936, 
p. 13. Vierteljahrshefte zur Siatistik des Deulichen Reichs, 1938 and 1939, lleft II. 


601644—44. 


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Table 3. —Bomh damage &y State, Province, administrative area, and city, as of 

1 Apr. 19Jf4 



Total 

dwellings 

1939 

Rendered 

uninhab¬ 

itable 

Percent 

Persons 

rendered 

homeless 

Preussen.... 

10,947,000 

1,463,000 
608,000 

943, 780 
395, 700 
14,400 
14,400 

8.6 

3,094, 524 
1,187,100 
48, 960 
48,960 

Berlin___ . . 

27.0 

Pommern_ 

2.4 

R. Stettin: Stettin__ 

81,100 

17.8 


Total..... 

S ch lesw Ig-Holstein. 

81,100 
408,000 

20,000 
71.800 

11,400 

5.200 

neg. 

1,000 

4.200 

17.8 

1.3 

48, 960 
18, 300 

R. Schleswig: 

Flensburg___ 

Kiel-...... 

1.4 

3,600 
14, 700 

Liibeck... 

42, 400 

9.9 

Neumunster__ 

15, 700 





Total..... 

149, 900 

5,200 

70,080 

80 

3. 5 

IS, 300 
234,46-4 

264 

Hannover... 

858,000 

10.000 

8.2 

R. Hannover: 

Cuxhaven... . 

.8 

Hannover..... 

145, 200 

67,600 

46.6 

223, 080 


Total... 

155,200 

67,680 
1,400 

43.6 

223, 344 

R. Osnabruck: Osnabruck.... 

28,800 

4.9 

5,040 


Total____- 

28,800 

1,400 

4.9 

5,040 

R. Aurich: Emden_ 

9,100 

1,600 

17.6 

6,080 




Total____ 

9,100 

1,600 

17.6 

6,080 

Westfalen...... 

1,190,000 

53,100 

300 

4.5 

199, 710 

R. Munster: 

Bottrop.....- 

18,800 

1.6 

1,320 

Gelsenkirchen. . 

80,000 

400 

.5 

1,600 

Gladbeck... 

14, 300 


Milnster__ 

30, 700 

1,200 

3.9 

5,160 

Recklinghausen ... . 

20, 700 






Total_____ 

164, 500 

1,900 

1.2 

8,080 

R. Arnsberg: 

Bochum___ 

81,800 

15, 700 

19.2 

58,090 

rjRst.rnp-'R aiiTftl 

13,300 


Dortmund... 

143, 200 

28, 700 

20.0 

109. 060 

Hagen.. __ 

41,900 

6,800 

16.2 

24,480 

Hamm __ 

14, 700 

neg. 



24, 400 
22,100 
16,200 
20,600 



















Total___-. 

378,200 

51,200 

13.5 

191,630 

Hessen-Nassau_ 

685,000 

101,200 

14.8 

336,800 



R. Kassel: Kassel .. _ 

59. 600 

32,400 

54.4 

116,640 



Total _ 

59,600 

32,400 

54.4 

116,640 



R. Wiesbaden: 

Frankfurt aM .. _ 

170, 200 

68,800 

40.4 

220,160 


49,200 






Total - _ - _ 

219,400 

68,800 

31.4 

220,160 


1,984,000 

303,000 

15.3 

1,067, 640 

R. Diisseldorf: 


148, 400 

53, 700 

36.2 

193,320 


110, 200 

9,900 

9.0 

38,610 

Essen __ 

173, 400 

40, 100 

23.1 

152, .380 


51,600 

15,500 

30.0 

51,150 


13,400 

8,000 




600 

7.5 

2, 220 

Miilheim _ 

37,300 

8,700 

23.3 

32, 190 


32, 400 

16,600 

51.2 

06,400 


14,900 
46,300 



7,000 

15.1 

28,700 

Remscheid_ 

31,200 

15,700 

50.3 

51,810 


21,000 




44,400 
123, 400 





44,100 

35.7 

141,120 


22,600 




21,500 



_ . 




Total..... 

855,900 

211,900 

24.8 

757, 900 

R. Koln: 

27,000 
225, 600 





71,110 

31.5 

241, 740 




Total. 

252, 600 

71,110 

28.1 

241, 740 


13 

































































































































Table 3. —Bomb damage by State, Province, administrative area, and city, as of- 

1 Ayr. 1944 —Continued 



Total 

dwellings 

1939 

Rendered 

uninhab¬ 

itable 

Percent 

Persons 

rendered 

homeless 

Bheinprovinz—Continued. 

R. Aachen: Aachen____ 

1 

j 47,300 

1 

20,CC0 

42.3 

68,000 

Total...-. 

47,300 
996,000 

20,000 
500 

42.3 

.1 

68,000 

1,550 

Sfichsen . -___-.. 

R. Maedeburg: 

IIalb$rstadt -- ..... 

15,700 
105,000 



■I--- 

Magdeburg _ __ 

500 

.5 

1,550 

Total__-.. 

120, 700 
1,974,000 

500 
49,100 

.4 

2.5 

1,550 
170,670 

Bayern..-.-. 

R. Oberbayern: Miinehen...— 

241,000 

j 11,800 

4.9 

40,120 

Total__.. 

241,000 

11,800 

4.9 

40,120 

R. Ober-und Mittelfranken: 

Bamberg-.- ____ 

15,400 
2.3,100 
119,700 




Fiirth__-. 




Nurnberg . __ ... .. 

15,000 

12.5 

52,500 

Total..-... 

158, 200 

15,000 

9.5 

52,500 

R. Mainfranken: 

Schweinfurt____ 

14,100 
27, .500 

2,400 

17.0 

8,400 

Wiirzburg_ __-. 

Total. ....... 




41,600 

2,400 

5.8 

8,400 

B. Schwaben: Augsburg...... 

51,000 

19,900 

39.0 

69,650 

Total___- 

51,000 

1,604,000 

19,900 

62,200 

39.0 

3.9 

69,650 
217, 700 

Sachsen.... ... 

R. Leipzig: Leipzig..... 

224, 200 

62,200 

27.7 

217, 700 

Total.-.-. -... 

Wiirttemberg..... 

Keilbronn..... 

224, 200 
765, (K)0 

62. 200 
14,250 

27.7 

1.9 

217,700 
50,0.50 

21,800 
128,900 
19, 700 
5,300 




Stuttgart..... 

Ulm........ 

14, OOO 

10.9 

49,000 

Friedrickshafen...... 

250 

4-7 

1,050 

Total..-.. .. - 

175, 700 
64.5.000 

14,250 
45,500 

8.1 

(0 

.50,050 
154, 700 

Baden...... . 

Freiburg..... .. 

27.800 
54, 700 

23.800 
23,400 
81,600 




Karlsruhe....-... 

Pforzheim.... 

7,000 

12.8 

23,800 

Heidelberg..... 




Mannheiin... ... 

Total....... 1 

Hansc'tadt Hamburg .. ... ' 

38,500 

(>) 

130,900 

211,300 
52.8, 500 
380,000 

45, 500 
298,000 

3,100 

(>) 1 
56.4 
.8 1 

154, 700 
953,600 
11, 160 

Hessen______ 

Darmstadt.... 

32,200 

42,900 

26,700 

14,600 

neg. 1 

3,100 1 

1 


Mainz..... 

Offenbach.... 

7.2 I 

11,160 

Worms____ 


1 


Total_____ 


1 


110,400 
231,000 

3,100 1 

6,500 1 

2.7 

2.8 

11,160 
23,400 

Mecklenburg... .. 

Rostock_■.... .. j 

Schwerin... 

32,400 
19,800 
10.000 

6, 500 

20.1 

23,400 

Wismar____ . ! 




Total_ ___. 




62,200 i 
128,000 , 

6, 500 
1,000 

10.5 

.8 

23,400 

4,000 

Oldenburg.......... ... 


Oldenburg_______ 

19,700 1 
26,200 1 

neg. 1 

1,000 ; 

1 


Wilhclmshaven.. 

Total........ 

3.8 1 

4,000 

45,900 1 

1,000 1 2.2 1 4,000 


See footnote at end of table. 


14 



















































































































































Table 3. —Bomb damage by State, Province, administrative area, and city, as of 

1 A-pr. 1944 —Continued 



Total 

dwellings 

1939 

Eendered 

uninhabit¬ 

able 

Percent 

Persons 

rendered 

homeless 

Bremen........ 

113,000 

2,600 

2.3 

11,180 

Bremen..... 

98,400 

2,600 

2.6 

11,180 

Total... 

98,400 

2,600 

2.6 

11,180 

Saarland; Saarbrucken..... 

36,240 

5,000 

13.8 

18,000 

Total.. 

36, 240 
154,000 

5,000 
3,800 

13.8 

2.5 

18,000 

13,300 

Braunschweig__ 

Braimschweig--... 

58,000 

3,800 

6.6 

13,300 

Total.-.... 

58,000 

3,800 

6.6 

13,300 

Total damage___ 


1,434,830 


4, 722, 284 





' Figure includes damage to Ludwigshafen; therefore percentage is omitted. 


Table 4. —Regional distribution of estimated housing shortage {1948) and pro¬ 
ductive capacities of the construction industry and the output of bricks in 
Germany {1981) 


(1) 

Provinces and states 

(2) 

(1933) 

Area 

square 

kilometers 

(3) 

(1933) 

Population 

ofiOcial 

census 

(4) 

(16-6-1933) 
Number of 
households 

(5) 

(June 1933) 
Number of 
dwelling 
units 

(6) 

Shortage or surplus 
(1933) of dweUing 
units 

Number 

Percent of 5 

Ostpreussen__ 

36,991.75 

2,333,301 

556,768 

541, 200 

-15,568 

2.9 

Stadt Berlin.. 

883.63 

4, 242,601 

1,449,973 

1,362,900 

-87,026 

6.4 

Brandenburg.. 

38,274.99 

2,692,080 

785,249 

745, 900 

-39,349 

5.3 

Pommem <i...... 

38,400. 86 

2,268,084 

578,688 

657,900 

-20, 788 

3.7 

Schlesien»__ 

36,696,38 

4,710,372 

1,273,756 

1,216, 700 

-57,056 

4.7 

Sachsen.. __ 

25,528. 56 

3,400,648 

971,983 

910,200 

-61, 783 

6.8 

Schleswig-Holstein .. 

15,681. 97 

1,420,265 

490,183 

462,200 

-37,983 

8.4 

Hannover.... 

38,704. 79 

3,236,868 

857,906 

813,300 

-44,606 

5.5 

Westfalen... 

20,214. 84 

6,039,963 

1,234,240 

1,090,500 

-143,740 

13.2 

Hessen-N assau.. 

16,845. 22 

2,584,828 

670,788 

632,500 

-38,288 

6.1 

Rheinprovinz.. 

24,476.92 

7,690,266 

2,044,673 

1,820,800 

-223,873, 

12.3 

Hoheiizollem. 

1,142. 26 

72,991 

17,686 

19,000 

-f 1,314 

*6.9 

TOTAL 







Preussen... 

293,842.17 

39,692,167 

10,931,893 

10,163,100 

-768,746 

6.6 

Bayern... 

76,089. TO 

7,682,447 

1,881,800 

1,785,700 

-96,100 

3.4 

Sachsen... 

14,994.70 

6,196,652 

1,582,107 

1,468,400 

-113,707 

7.7 

Wiirttemberg... 

19,507. 73 

2, 696, 324 

690,265 

681,300 

-8,965 

1.3 

Baden___ 

15,069.65 

2,412,951 

609,932 

595,900 

-14,032 

2.4 

Thuringen.... 

11,762.73 

1,659,510 

458,857 

432,400 

-26,457 

6.1 

Hessen..... 

7,691.40 

1,429,048 

375,353 

352,100 

-23, 253 

6.6 

Hamburg___ 

746.04 

1,675,703 

383,451 

360,700 

-22,751 

6.3 

Mecklenburg.. __ 

15,720. 88 

804,948 

217,004 

206,400 

-10,604 

5.1 

Oldenburg. 

5,396. 27 

495,119 

138,691 

130,400 

-8,191 

6.3 

Braunschweig. .. 

3,672.00 

512,989 

149,601 

139,000 

-10,601 

7.6 

Bremen____ 

257.81 

371,558 

108,286 

101,400 

-6,886 

6.8 

Anhalt.. 

2,314. 32 

364,415 

109,164 

100,400 

-8, 764 

8.7 

Lippe... 

1, 215.17 

175,538 

44,687 

42,400 

-2,287 

5.4 

Schaumberg-Lippe. .. 

340. 29 

49,955 

13,927 

14,000 

4-73 

*.5 

Reich.. 

468,620.36 

65, 219,324 

17,694,918 

16,573,600 

-121,271 

6.8 


See footnotes at end of table. 


I 


15 


















































































Table 4. —Regional distribution of estimated housing shortage (1048) and pro¬ 
ductive capacities of the construction industry and the output of bricks in 
Germany (1937) —Continued. 


(1) 

Provinces 
and states 

(7) 

(1933-48) 
Units needed for 
new families » 

(8) 

(1933) 

Units needed to 
relieve over¬ 
crowding » 

(9) 

Estimated total 
short,age (1948)» 

(16) 

(11) 

(12) 

Distribution in percent 
of Reich total 

Regional 
housing 
shortage 
(by 1948) 

Capacity 
of the 
construc¬ 
tion 

industry 
(1937) b 

Output 
of bricks 
(1937)• 

Number 

Percent 
of 5 

Number 

Percent 
of 5 

Number 

Percent 
of 5 

Ostpreussen_ 

111,000 

20.5 

77,800 

14.4 

204, 400 

37.8 

5 

3 

4 

Stadt Berlin.... 

17,400 

*1.3 

60,900 

4.5 

1.30, 500 

9.6 

3 

7 

1 

Brandenburg... 

56,600 

7.6 

38, 700 

5.2 

134, 600 

18.0 

3 

5 

9 

Pommern . 

82,000 

14.7 

43.100 

7.7 

145, 900 

26.2 

4 

4 

4 

Schlesien •_ 

207, 700 

17.1 

195,800 

16.1 

460, 500 

37.8 

10 

7 

13 

Sach.sen_ 

109, 700 

12.1 

26,800 

2.9 

198, 300 

21.8 

5 

5 

6 

Schleswig-Hol- 










stein '_ 

47,400 

10.5 

9,100 

2.0 

94, 400 

20.8 

2 

2 

2 

Hannover_ 

117,600 

14.5 

20,000 

2.5 

182, 200 

22.4 

4 

5 

6 

Westfalen. 

277,300 

25.4 

81,100 

7.4 

502,100 

46.0 

12 

7 

6 

Hessen-Nassau-- 

79,900 

12.6 

12 , 800 

2.0 

131,000 

20.7 

3 

5 

3 

Rheinprovinz... 

318, 70C 

17.5 

94,800 

5.2 

637,400 

35.0 

15 

11 

10 

Hohenzollern 

2,400 

12 . 6 

100 

. 5 

1,200 

6.3 




TOTAL 








Preussen. 

1, 392, 900 

13.7 

661,000 

6.5 

2,822,500 

27.8 

66 

61 

64 

Bayern. 

308, .500 

17.3 

97,400 

5.5 

502,000 

28.1 

12 

11 

11 

Sachsen.. 

134,000 

9.1 

52,800 

3.6 

300,500 

20.5 

7 

8 

7 

Wiirttemberg... 

104, 700 

15.4 

7,400 

1.1 

121,100 

17.8 

3 

4 

4 

Baden__ 

92,100 

15.5 

16, 800 

2.8 

122,900 

20.6 

3 

4 

3 

Thuringen.. 

55, 500 

12.8 

10 , 800 

2.5 

92, 800 

21.5 

2 

3 

2 

Hessen.. 

46, 800 

13.3 

9,000 

2.6 

79,100 

22.5 

2 

2 

1 

Hamburg_ 

8,500 

2.4 

4,700 

1.3 

36,000 

10.0 

1 

2 

1 

Mecklenburg... 

22,100 

10.7 

3, 500 

1.7 

36,200 

17.5 

1 

1 

1 

Oldenburg_ 

27, 400 

21.0 

3,900 

3.0 

39,500 

30.3 

1 

1 

1 

Braunsehwelg-. 

12 , 000 

8.6 

1,500 

1.1 

24,100 

17.3 

1 

1 


Bremen_ . 

8 , 500 

8 . 4 

1 , 200 

1 . 2 

16, 600 

16.4 


1 


Anhalt--.. 

9,900 

9.9 

3, 300 

3.3 

21,900 

21.8 

1 

1 

i 

Lippe_ 

6,900 

16. 3 

800 

1.9 

10,000 

23.6 



4 

Schaumberg- 








Lippe - - 

1,400 

10.0 

100 

.7 

1,400 

10.0 












Reich_ 

2, 231, 200 

13.5 

874, 200 

5.3 

4, 226, 600 

25.5 

100 

100 

100 


» According to official German estimates. 

b The regional capacity of the construction industry is basea on the numbers of workers employed in that 
industry in various regions (in 1937). 

« Bricks represent the largest load on transportation for new construction of dwellings; approximately 90 
metric tons per dwelling unit. The quantity of cement used in 1937 per dwelling unit was on the average 
4 metric tons, lumber 7J4 metric tons, ana iron, steel, and their products in workers’ dwellings only 1)4 
metric tons. 

d Orenzmark is included in Pommern. 

' Includes Niedersehlesien and Oberschlesien. 

* Lubeck is included in Schleswig-Holstein. 

Source: Statistisches Jahrbuch fur das Deutsche Reich, 1938, p. 7; Der Kunftige Wohnungs- und Siedlungsbau, 
by Walter Fey, Berlin, 1939, pp. 15, 26, 36, 53, 54. 


16 













































Table 5, —Requirevients of basic building materials, labor, and funds for construction of dwellings 


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» 1 cubic meter of construction lumber represents 1.43 fm. (Festmcter) of timber, or 1 fm. of timber equals 
0.7 cbm. of construction lumber. 

•> Man-hours arc figured by dividing the total wages paid in 1937 in all construction industries (3.03 billion 
RM.) or in dwelling construction (665 million RM.), by the average hourly worker’s wage in construction 
industries in 1937 (0.723 RM.). Source: Statisiisekes Jahrbuch, 1938. 

0 Data not available. 

The 1937 manufacture and u.se throughout the Reich include 9H billion pieces of regular bricks and 3 
billion pieces of special bricks (such as Kalksandsleine, Binuisteine, etc.). 

• Number of workers registered as employed in industries and crafts in 1937. 

' 19,000 bricks were ireeded in 1937 for the construction of a dwelling unit of 3)4-rooms, including kitchen, 
in a group of 3-story buildings (analyzed in: Vierleljahrescliefte zur Statisiih dea deutchen Reiche, 44 Jg 1935, 
Heft IV, p. 61). A considerably larger quantity of bricks is required for one-family homes, which are prev¬ 
alent in .smaller communities. The Institut fiir Konjimkturforschung (.Sonderheft 45, Berlin, 1939, in 
Der Kfinfliffe Wohnunce-ung Siedhingsbau, by Dr. W. Fey) sets, therefore, the average 1937 use of bricks per 
dwelling unit at 25,000 pieces, representung 90 m. t. of weight. 

• Iteprcsents an average requirement of 18.6 fm. of timber per dwelling unit. 

*' According to the sources mentioned under/, the cement requirements for a 3H-room dwelling unit in 
a 3-story building averaged 3.3 metric tons. The requirements for one-family homes are considerably 
' arger. They were set at 4.0 metric tons per dwelling unit in 1937. 

• Average use according to sources under <. The steel loquirc.ments for worker’s dwellings amounted to 
1.25 m. t. per unit. * 

J W ithout the cost of land and land improvements and development. Source: Dr. 'V. Fey, Der Kun/Hje 
Wohnunge-und Siedlungshaii, mentioned under k 

k Source: F. Seldte, SoztalpolUik im JDriUen Reich, Ecrlin 1933, p. 30. 

I Estimates based on German emergency shelter standards set up by the Housing Commissioner of the 
Reich, I^ey (.Reiniache-Westfalische ’^eitung), 31 October 1943. 

=> Should mainly be supplied by salvage actions. 

” Could be replaced by lime (burnt locally) and/or clay mortar if not readily available. 

o Consists of nails and hardware mainly. Plumbing should be provided by salv.age actions. 

p Estimates based on housing standards, providing for equipment of dwelling units equal to or better 
than those in use in 1937. A certain degree of rationalization of construction methods resulting in labor, 
material, and capital savings, as compared to 1937, is taken into account. 


18 


APPENDIX B. EVACUATION PROGRAMS UNDER THE NAZI 
GOVERNMENT 


Two evacuation plans have been adopted in Germany: KLV (Kin- 
derlandverschickung) for the precautionary evacuation of children 
of 3 to 14, and a scheme for the evacuation of family units and non- 
essential adults, both under the auspices of NSV {NationalsozialvH- 
ische VolksioohZfahrt). 

The KLV plan provides for placement of children of age 3 to 9 
Avith families in rural communities, and those of 10 to 14 in camps 
under the supervision of Hitler Jugend leaders. The evacuation 
period was, at first, meant to be 6 to 9 months. There are indications 
that, at present, the evacuation is of a more permanent nature as a 
result of the growing shelter crisis in urban centers devastated by 
aerial warfare. The KLV has recently handled the evacuation of 
children by classes and sometimes, transferred entire schools in a 
body. Rural hotels and youth hotels have been used, idle warehouses 
and vacant castles requisitioned, and customshouse buildings on the 
former boundaries converted into dormitories. All evacuated chil¬ 
dren are under constant supervision and care of HJ leaders, teachers, 
doctors, and nurses. All services are given free to the children. 
Parents may visit their children after 6 months. Their transporta¬ 
tion and stay at the camp are free of charge. The KLV scheme 
covers all of Germany and provides for transfers of children from 
danger zones as far as Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Demnark. 

In evacuating adults, such as mothers with at least one child under 
6, older people, and persons not essential to war production, preference 
is given to those completely bombed out. The authorities arrange for 
transportation and for billeting in selected reception areas. Under 
the NSV plan a province may adopt a city exposed to air attacks, or 
the authorities determine the area to which evacuees from danger 
zones will have to transfer. Evacuees are receiving family allowance,s 
during their stav in the reception area. They include: 

a. Minimum living expenses, depending on the previous income of 
the evacuee and the local living condition in the reception area. 

&. Free lodging in billeted dwellings, or the full amount of rent 
paid by the evacuee in the reception area. 

c. A rent assistance for the evacuee’s home residence if it is no 
longer used by other family members. 

d. Sickness assistance and assistance for pregnant and nursing 
Avomen. 

e. Contribution for the education of children, such as costs for 
schooling. 

/. Assistance, obligations, and expenses, such as life insurance, or 
procurement of essential clothing. 

g. In some cases rent for premises of businesses shut doAvn because 
of eA^acuation. 

li. A special compensation of 20 RIM. a month for the family head, 
10 RM. for each dependent over 8, and 8 RM. for children under 8. 

A deduction is made, hoAveA^er, from these allowances of sums which 
can be secured for the evacuee from his provider remaining on the 
job in the home toAvn. The allowances are not to be repaid.^ Before 

* YoelMscher Beobachter, Berlin, 11 August 1943. 


601644 


19 



leaving the danger zone the evacuee receives a departure certificate 
from his local ration board, which entitles him to obtain food rations 
at the Mayor’s office in the reception community. 

The original reception areas vrere becoming overcrowded, the trans¬ 
portation system overburdened, and the separation of families affected 
civilian morale. The tendency now is to evacuate people into the 
rural areas near their home cities. This new scheme necessitates the 
building of emergency shelter units {Behelfshehne), 


APPENDIX C. PRODUCTION OF BASIC BUILDING MATERIALS 
IN GERMANY 

1. Brick and Tile Industries 

Plants are generally located where sources of raw materials and 
fuel are linked by short hauls and cheap transportation to each other 
and to building sites. The numerous brick works scattered through¬ 
out Germany supply normal local needs. But most of the highly 
mechanized plants are operated by large brown coal mining companies. 

About 50 percent of the total number of 4,800 brick works were 
mechanized. The mechanized plants worked in pre-war years at 
nearly full capacity throughout the year. Old-fashioned works con¬ 
tinue to operate in full until they exhaust the supply of stored “green” 
bricks that Avere produced during the summer. Out of the total turn¬ 
over of brick and tile industries amounting to 415 million RM., about 
20 percent of the plants handled less than 15,000 EM. a year. About 
60 percent of the j)lants had a turn-over of 15,000 to 100,000 EM., and 
20 percent more than 100,000 EM. each.- 

The output of the brick and tile industry in the year 1936-37 was 
as follows: 


Type of product 

Output 

(billion 

units) 

AVeight 

(million 

tons) 

Percent of 
total out¬ 
put 

Common brick...... . . 

8.3 

28.7 

8.3 

58.2 

Lime and sand brick 1..... . 

3 2. 5 

17.6 

Trass-brick ’ .. 

* 1. 2 

4.0 

8. 4 

Roofing tiie._____ 

1. I 

3. 5 

7.3 

Hollow brick......... 

1.0 

3.3 

7.0 

Drain pipes....... 

. 2 

1.5 




Total output___ 

14.3 

47.8 

100.0 



> Widely used in Germany. 

* 1938 output as estimated by MEAV, was about 1.9 billion pieces. 

3 Trass is a natural cement brick. 

* 1938 output, as estimated by MEW, was about 1.0 billion pieces. 


The manpower employed in brick and tile industries in 1936-37 
numbered about 173,000. The average productivity varied between 
60,000 and 100,000 bricks per man yearly in smaller plants and aver¬ 
aged about 300,000 jiieces yearly in the highly mechanized plants. 
The labor cost amounted to approximately one-third of the value of 
the output, wage rates for this work being generally below the average 
level in the area. 


2 The turn-ovor of 100,000 IIM. represenls about 3 million regular bricks. 


20 



















2. Lumber and Woodworking Industries 

The timber reserve of Germany in 193G-37 was about 1.7 billion 
cubic meters. Broadleafs tend to predominate in the western areas 
and along the coastal plain, and conifers in Bayern, Sachsen, Schle- 
.sien, and Ostpreussen. 

The increasing concentration, mechanization, and electrification 
within the lumber and woodworking industries is indicated in the 
following table comparing data for 1925 and 1933.^ 


Production year 

Number of 
enterprises 

W orkers 
employed 

Enterprises using mechanical power 

Total 

number 

Total 

installed 

Electric 

horsepower 

Other 

horsepower 

1925__ 

220,375 
216,037 
-2.0 

974, 540 
612,289 
-37.2 

84,664 
116, 517 
-37.6 

1,052,127 

1,377,659 
-f30.9 

620, 551 
975. 419 
•f 57. 2 

431, 576 
402, 240 
-6. 8 

1933... 

Increase or decrease (percent). 


This distribution of enterprises by type of production and mechan¬ 
ical power used within German lumber and wood-working industries 
was as follows: ^ 


Type of production 

Number of 
enterprises 

Manpower 

employed 

Mechanical 
total horse¬ 
power 

Power 

installed 

electric 

horsepower 

Sawmills_* *_ 

9, 221 
112, 714 
14,152 
12,944 
67,006 

88,090 
305,171 
41, 334 
30,827 
146,867 

416,652 
621,843 
74,353 
65,081 
199, 730 

154,140 
555,729 
47,144 
44, 567 
173,833 

Wooden construction, carpentry ... 

Woodworking industries_ _ 

Container manufacture__ 

Other * _ 

Total_*_ 

216,037 

612, 289 

1,377,659 

975,419 



• For example, veneer plants, railroad ties, poles and firewood, handles. 


The average growth of timber in all Germany for the past 10 years 
was estimated at about 38 million cubic meters a year. By a constant 
policy of over-cutting, about 85 percent of the domestic wood con- 
vsumption was covered.® 

The annual cut of timber (stem wood including bark) since 1933-34 
is listed in the following tabulation 



Annual 

Percent of 


Annual 

Percent of 

Production year 

cut in mill. 

annual 

Production year 

cut in mill. 

annual 

CBM 

growth 

CBM 

growth 

1933-34 .. 

49 

129 

1938-39__ 

58 

153 

1934-35 . 

54 

142 

1939-40-. 

53 

139 

1935-36 . 

52 

137 

1940-41.... 

49 

129 

i936-37 . 

57 

150 

1941-42___ 

53 

> 139 

1937-38 __' 

60 

158 

1942-^3. 

57 

» 150 




1 Estimated. 

2 Estimated target figure. 


s Without Austria, hut ineluding 1027 and 1035 data for the Saar. Source : fUatisiisches 
Juhrhuch, 1038. The 1033 een.sus was taken as of 16 June. 

* Without Au.stria, hut including the Saar; data for Germany according to the census of 
16.0.1933 and for the Saar according to the census of 25.6.1935. Source: Statistisches 
Jahrbuch, 1938 . 

“ Prior to World War I. 52.8 percent of the yearly tiinher consumption went to con¬ 
struction industries, 16.2 percent to mining, 12.9 percent to woodworking Industries, 3.5 
l>ercent for railroad sleepers and poles, and 14.0 percent for pulp (A. Schlomann in Wood 
Products, Nov. 1941). 

" Source : MEW report 30.10.1943 based on available data. 


21 





























































The larger part of labor employed in lumbering is seasonal and 
often classified in census returns under other occupations (primarily 
agriculture). For the annual cut of 55 to 60 million cubic meters the 
equivalent of approximately 300,000 to 350,000 full man-years were 
spent. This work was liowever distributed over some 2 million per¬ 
sons in pre-war years. 

The distribution of employment in the woodworking industries of 
verious sizes was as follows: ^ 


Lumber and woodworking industries with— 

Number of 
enterprises 

Number of 
employees 

Enterprises 

using 

mechanical 

power 

Installed 
mechanical 
power in 
horsepower 

Less than 8 employees. 

6 to 10 employees____ 

11 to 60 employees... 

61 to 200 employees... 

Over 200 employees.... 

Total..... 

202,291 

7,698 

5,129 

910 

109 

334,272 
66,616 
107,803 
81,070 
33,628 

103,742 
6,951 
4,828 
887 
109 

731, 267 
149,430 
272,746 
169,257 
64,969 

216,037 

612,289 

116, 617 

1, 377,669 



3. Prefabricated Huts and Barracks 

The main consumer of construction lumber is the prefabrication 
industry. Wooden huts and barracks were originally mass produced 
for the organization Todt (construction workers) and for the troops, \ 
because of their mobility and lightness, and because they require fewer 
man-hours and less production time as compared to the traditional 
type of construction. Prefabricated shelter units are now used also 
to house workers of the Reich Labor Service, labor conscripts, foreign 
workers, prisoners of war, and bombed-out populations, certain arma¬ 
ment work shops, ofiices, hospitals, auxiliary post offices, railway 
stations, etc. Owing to this vast demand the prefabrication of wooden 
structures developed into an important industry. 

Several million soldiers, workers, and air-raid victims are actually 
housed in prefabricated structures. The type most commonly used 
was designed for Todt workers and later adopted by the army for 
troop housing. A larger type (marked BFN) measures 421/2 meters 
by 12, sheltering 144 men and providing 3.5 square meters or (35 
square feet) floor space per person. The BFN barracks has about 
3,000 subassemblies of 82 types, all fabricated mechanically. 

It has been reported that Switzerland and Sweden were also work¬ 
ing on German orders for prefabricated wooden structures. Finland, 
Norway, France, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Croatia are manufacturing 
sections of wooden barracks and huts or complete units for the 'Welir- 
macht^ and also are delivering lumber for processing in German 
plants. All wooden construction is coordinated and standardized. 

A decentralized production of special assemblies in separate plants 
is therefore possible and practicable, realizing additional economies 
in labor, materials, and transportation. 

Plywood huts are a new development. Wall and roof sections are 
insulated and held together by clamps. A building consisting of 12 
rectangular wall sections and 12 wedgesliaped roof sections can be 

Source; StatisHsches Jahrhuch, 1938. 


22 



















erected in 55 minutes by 10 men. Originally invented in Finland they 
are now widely used. Shipping for this type of prefabricated bar¬ 
racks is reduced by 80 ])ercent as compared to other types. 

4. Cement and Lime Industries 

The distribution of basic raw materials facilitated a certain degree 
of decentralization of German cement industry. But considerable 
consumption of electric power and fuel in cement production ® con¬ 
tributed to a concentration of major plants in coal-mining districts 
(around Beckum-Lippstadt-Paderborn in Westfalen; near Osna- 
bruck, Hannover, Halle, Berlin, and Oppeln; in the Neckar, Lahn, 
and Main valleys and throughout Bavaria; the plants at Beckum, 
Buren and Geseke in eastern Germany developed into important cen¬ 
ters of cement industry for the occupied eastern territories). 

Official production figures (April 1936) estimated the workable 
processing cajiacity at 14.4 million tons (of which 11.5 million tons 
were portland cement). Out of this total capacity 1.4 million tons 
could not be produced economically, although the plants were in good 
repair. Another 1.5 million tons (above the total of 14.4 million tons) 
represented the capacity of plants in bad state of repair.® In 1939 
there were 150 plants with an estimated capacity of over 200,000 tons 
each, and another 30 processing between 100,000 and 200,000 tons a 
year. Both wet and dry processes of manufacture are extensively 
used. 

The following table, from official data, shows the growth of produc¬ 
tion between 1933 and 1938: 


Year 

Total 

output 

Output of 
Portland 
cement 

Year 

Total 

output 

Output of 
Portland 
cement 

1933 .1_ 

3.820 
0.470 
8.807 

3.111 

5.331 
7.257 

1936,. 

11. 689 
12.605 

I 15.956 

9.399 
10.037 
13.500 

1934___ 

1937... 

1935 . 

1938. 




I Sales, including about 095,000 tons for Austria, according to MEW. 


Approximately 20,000 workers were employed in the cement indus¬ 
try in 1936, including 4,000 engaged in limestone quarries. Their 
wages for the same year totaled 41.5 million RM. 

Because of increasing restriction in the use of structural steel, mass- 
fabrication of reinforced concrete slabs and beams has been promoted. 
Installation of some 30 factories manufacturing pre-cast structural 
building elements in reinforced concrete was planned in 1940. 
Attempts have been made to replace reinforcing bars and wire mesh 
by vegetable fibers and wood. 

The most important lime-producing areas in Germany are at Ahl- 
bingerode, Rubeland, Huttenrode, Diez a. d. lahn, Liegntz in Schle- 
sien, Kalkberg i. d. Mark, Oppeln, Dornap, Dornap-Mahnenfurth, 
Aprath, Hagen-Oberhagen, Iserlohn, Menden, Lehmathe, Gruiten, 
Mochdahl, Neandertal, Koln and Rheinland. In addition, there are 
important lime works throughout the Narz and central Germany, 

* According to MEW e.stimates for Germany, 60-100 KWH of electricity plus 0.5 to 0.7. 
in. t. of coal are required to produce 1 m. t. of cement. 

“Unofficial German data for 19.38 estimated the total capacity of the cement industry as 
17 million tons. 


23 





















Sachsen, and the Danube valley. IMost Portland cement factories 
make hydraulic lime as a sideline. As in the case of brick and cement 
production, the coal cost and difficulty of transport in wartime are 
considerable problems. 

In 1937, there were approximately 800 lijnestonc quarries in Ger¬ 
many, of which 690 are equipped with kilns. The annual output of 
limestone quarries in 1936 reached about 12 million tons, burnt lime 
51/^ million tons, and other products of lime-kilns 21/^ million tons. 
The industry had a steady increase in turn-over between 1933 and 1936 
(from 72 to 140 million RM). 

Limestone quarries and lime-kilns employed aliout 25,000 persons 
in 1936, nearly double the number employed in 1933. Em])loyment 
is .seasonal, being lowest in winter and highest in summer. Woikers’ 
wages amounted to nearly 49 million RM in 1936. 

7. Structural Steel 

Germany has a surplus rolling capacity for structural steel and 
sufficient fabrication facilities for other metal products required for 
construction purposes. However, their ])resent production is severely 
limited both in type and in quantity. The use of steel has been con¬ 
trolled, together with other critical building materials, since the 
initiation of the rearmament. Steel, lumber, and cement allocations to 
the claimant were tied to each other, by decree of the General Com¬ 
missioner for Construction Industries.^® 


Category of construction 

Allocation per M. T. of 
structural steel 

Category of construction 

Allocation per M. T. of 
structural steel 

CBM of 
lumber 

M. T. of 
cement 

CBM of 
lumber 

M. T. of 

cement 

Wehrmacht _ 

0.85 

1.10-3.10 

Utilities. __ 

0.15 

0.70 

Public buildings _ 

2.00 

2.20 

Public works.. _ 

. 12 

3.60 

Industrial structures 

.31 

1. 25 

Motor highways .... 

. 25 

17.00 

Commercial structures... 

1.40 

1.90 

Soil conservation _ 

.35 

1.80 

Reichsbahn _ 

.63 

2.80 

Workers, housing.... 

8.30 

4.80 

Reichspost _ __ 

.80 

2. 70 

Private housing .. _ 

6.00 

3.50 

Food-processing plants, 






silos. 

1.60 

2.80 





The objective of the measure is to save labor, materials, fuel, and 
transportation through appropriate selection and minimum use of 
the several building materials. 

The 1937 use of steel in Germany for all purposes was approxi¬ 
mately 17 million tons, of which 5.7 million tons were consumed by 
all construction industries. The 720,000 metric tons utilized in the 
same year for the provision of housing rei)resent 12.6 percent of the 
steel used by all construction industries or 2 percent of total steel con¬ 
sumption in the Reich. 

8. Sheet Glass 

The principal production centers for sheet glass are in Westfalen and 
Rheinland (including the Saar), Bayern, Schlesien, and Torgau on 
the Elbe (northeast of Leipzig). 

12 September 1938; Source: Reichsvei teidiyunga Oesetzgelung, Bauwirtachaft, Berlin. 


24 



























The following tiible shows (he out put of sheet glass in Germany 
in 1937: 


Type of product 

Area in 
million 
sq. feet 

Percent 
of total 
area 

Output 
in M. T. 

Percent 
of total 
weight 

Sheet glass... 

325.1 

90 

143,000 

3,000 

37,000 

78 

Colored sheet glass... 

7.6 

2 

2 

Plate glass.. 

28.5 

8 

20 



Total output... 

361.2 

100 

183,000 

100 



The number of sheet-glass works in 1929 was about 5,000. Nearly 
half of Germany’s sheet-glass production comes from one firm, Deut¬ 
sche Tafelglas A. G., with three main factories at Weiden in Bayern, 
at Witten-Krengeldanz, and Kiinzendorf in Schlesien. 

The manufacture of fiat glass in Germany is estimated to consume 
approximately 200,000 tons of sand per annum, 40,000 tons of soda, 
00,000 tons of lime, and 250,000 tons of fuel.” 

According to the German Press (June 1943) the production of sheet 
glass dropped in the first months of the war. Mechanization of the 
j)roduction and the addition of the Sudeten plants resulted in a gradual 
iiu*rease of the output. But window glass for repair of air-raid dam¬ 
age is still scarce. Since August 1943, deliveries of sheet glass have 
taken place only on receipt of a glass coupon {Glasmarhe). 

It is reported that a new window-glass substitute {RoUglas) f()r 
repairs has been developed, consisting of a transparent, waterproof 
plastic. It can be rolled, cut like paper, and nailed to window frames. 
Unlike glass, it is flexible, and transmits ultra-violet rays, but will not 
stand high temperature. 


IV. BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Anon. /Studies of Migratwn and /Settlement^ “The German National 
Kegist ration System,” CID 55925. 

Fey, Wallei*. Dcr Kiinftige Wohnmigs-iind Siedlwigshau^ Schriften 
des Instituts fur Konjunkturforschmig, Sonderheft 45, Berlin, 1939. 

Fey, Walter. Leistungen u,nd A ufguhen in Deutschen Wolimmgs-umd 
Siedlungshau, Schriften des Instituts fiir Konjunkturforschung^ 
Berlin, 1936. 

Frank, E. Geordnete Wohnungswirtchaft^ Berlin, 1940. 

Seldte, F. Sozialpolitik ini Britten Reich., Berlin, 1938. 

British Basic Handbook on Germany. “Construction Industries,” 
London, 1944. 

Ministry of Home Security. Estimate of the Cost of the Construction 
of German Emergency Dwellings. REN. 341, London, 1943. 

Office of Strategic Services. The German Housing Position, 1939- 
WJfd, R & A No. 1426, AVashington, February 1944. 

Statistisches Jahihuch fiir das Deutche Reich, 1938. 

Vierteljahrshefte zur Statistik des Deutschen Reichs, Hefte I, II, 1938, 
1939. 


“ Rough estimates hy MEW, 


25 


















HOUSING AND BUILDING MATERIALS IN GERMANY 


B. Administration 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Page 

Summary_ 27 

I. Analysis of the Problem_ 28 

Introduction; General Organization_ 28 

1. Reich Housing Commissioner_ 29 

2. Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production_ 29 

a. The Main Committee for Construction_ 30 

b. Economic Group “Construction Industry”_ 30 

c. Reich Commissioner for Wood Construction_ 30 

3. Commissioner General for the Regulation of the Building Industry. 30 

4. German Labdr Front_ 31 

5. National Socialist People’s Welfare Organization_ 31 

New Construction_ 32 

Repair and Alteration Works; Reconversion and More Intensive 

Utilization of Existing Facilities_ 33 

Financial Measures_ 34 

II. RccommendaHons- 35 

General Organization_ 35 

New Construction_ 36 

Repair and Alteration Works; Reconversion and More Intensive 

Utilization of Existing Facilities_ 38 

Financial Measures_ 39 

Appendix A. The Structure of the “Industrial Groups” in the Field of 

Housing and Building Construction_ 41 

Appendix B. The Deutsche Bau- und Bodenbank, Non-Profit Housing 

Corporations, and Building and Loan Associations_ 42 

Appendix C, Tenant Protection Law and Rent Control Law_ 42 

Appendix D. Price Control_ 43 

Appendix E. Emergency Legislation Pertaining to the Utilization of 

Existing Dwellings_ 44 

Appendix F. Financial Measures Designed to Facilitate More Intensive 

Utilization of Existing Dwellings_ 48 

Bibliography_ 50 


26 




























SUMMARY 


1. The limited amount of construction work at present carried on 
in Germany is subject to numerous regulations administered by a 
hu ge number of authorities. On the local level much responsibility 
rests with the mayors and county chairmen; on the national and re¬ 
gional levels man}’- new authorities have been created, under strong 
Nazi influence. 

2. The administrative regulations, in substance, cover (a) the ad¬ 
ministration of existing facilities and their allocation to the popula- 
ton: (b) the administration of new’ construction, repair, and altera- 
ti(m works. With reference to the former and, more specifically, 
with reference to the Tenant Protection and Keich Pent Laws, much 
reliance will have to be placed on the existing legislation, wdiich in 
part has been in force for a number of decades and the minute details 
of which cannot easily be replaced by new arrangements during the 
initial period of military occupation. 

ih The short-run problems of administering the shelter program 
are essentially local in character and much reliance will have to be 
jflaced upon the initiative and cooperation of the local authorities. 
Financial aid which formerly was forthcoming from central authori¬ 
ties may have to be replaced by loeal sources of finance. In the absence 
of these the occupation authorities wull make available means of pay¬ 
ment under the rules and procedures of Military Government. 

4. On the national level, the policy-making functions of the Reich 
Ministry of Labor were transferred under the Nazi regime to a 
number of newly created agencies, which also, assumed executive 
functions in the field of housing and construction. These agencies 
include the Reich Housing Commissioner, the Commissioner General 
for the Regulation of the Building Industry, and the Reich Com¬ 
missioner for Wood Construction. On the regional level, the jurisdic¬ 
tions of these authorities coincide v/ith those of the military districts 
{Riistungsinspektionen) and party Gaue^ respectively. It is proposed 
(o eliminate the offices of the Reich Housing Commissioner, Commis¬ 
sioner General for the Regulation of the Building 'Industry, and 
Reich Commissioner for Wood Construction, and have the central 
policy-making functions again in a central German labor authority. 
On the regional level, it may prove necessary to institute new regional 
housing offices, the areas of which should not coincide either with the 
military districts or with the party Gave. If operations on a lower 
regional level prove necessarj’-, it is proposed to use the office of the 
district president {Regkrv^ngsjyrdsidevt) in Prussia and correspond¬ 
ing authorities in the other States. 

5. The volume of new’ construction, which is now limited by a 
number of stringent regulations, may increase under militaiy occu- 
]>ation as labor and materials are freed from war uses. In the absence 
of readily available private funds, the present system of financing 
new’ construction may have to be retained in its principal outlines. 
Although the various institutions providing mortgage credit have 
ceased lending operations during the war, it may be desirable to place 
greater emphasis on these agencies as sources of credit for construc¬ 
tion work. It is expected, however, wuth respect to the control of 


27 


investments, that for the initial period of military occupation the 
controls imposed on the issuance of new bonds, and I’elated admin¬ 
istrative measures, will be retained. 

6. For the initial period of military occupation at least, it seems 
necessary to retain the miscellaneous controls which have been im¬ 
posed on mortgages, forced sales, and real estate transactions in gen¬ 
eral. The large-scale repayment of mortgage credit has been post¬ 
poned time and again since the thirties, and economic conditions dur¬ 
ing the period of military occupation will not be favorable for 
lifting the moratorium. 

7. It is proposed to modify the emergency legislation setting up 
priorities for the disposal of dwelling space. These provisions 
should be replaced by objective standards which are open to exami¬ 
nation and control and do not leave the authorities too much discre¬ 
tion. Under no condition must any sort of discrimination either in 
favor of Nazi groups or against others be permitted. 

8. During military occupation, recourse to the central administrative 
agencies may not always be open, and the need for an elastic solution 
of housing problems will make it necessary to rely on local initiative 
and authority to the largest possible extent. For this reason the 
power of the local authorities to make ordinances in matters pertain¬ 
ing to housing should be strengthened. At present this power is 
restricted by the exclusive character of national decrees. 

9. To a considerable extent, emergency facilities will consist of 
quarters which are, or can be made, suitable for accommodating large 
niimbers of people—hotels, schools, army barracks, restaurants, brew¬ 
eries, theaters, and gymnasiums. The police power of the munici¬ 
palities will supply a suitable legal basis for requisitioning such 
facilities. It will, however, be necessary to confer farther-reaching 
authoritj’- on the municipalities if they are to be enabled to requisition 
facilities now under the jurisdiction of the Keich, the States, and other 
public bodies. 


1. AMALYS5S OF THE PROBLEM 

A. Introduction; General Organization 

It is proposed, in Part A of this Guide presenting the program for 
housing under Military Government, that immediate steps be taken 
toward two general ends: the utilization of ail available existing hous¬ 
ing, and the construction of emergency housing. The mawiinery 
necessary for the administration of this program is considered below. 
(The long-term housing program, which is linked with construction 
undertaken in the emergency program, and is consequently discussed 
in Part A, will not be an administrative problem for Military Gov¬ 
ernment, and is therefore not considered here.) 

Before making recommendations as to machinery to be set up by 
Military Government in this field, it is necessary to examine the 
administrative system which presently prevails, at least some vestiges 
of which Military Government will encounter when the country is 
occupied. (A chart of this is presented on the following page.) Con¬ 
trol of housing and construction is vested in a number of general 
governmental agencies at the national, regional, and local levels, 


28 


sharing a wide degree of authority for the many aspects of housing, 
frequently witliout clear distinction as to primary responsibility. In 
the great majority of cases, the actual exercise of authority takes 
place at the local level—^by mayors, county chairmen, and local repre¬ 
sentatives of national organizations—^vdio carry out the policy 
decisions made at the regional or national level. 

On the national level, there are, in the main, three organizations 
operating in the field of housing policy. These are the Eeich Housing 
Commissioner, the Minister for Armaments and War Production, and 
the Commissioner General for the Regulation of the Building Indus¬ 
try. x^part from these agencies, the German Labor Front and the 

PRESENT ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION 


Hiller 



National Socialist People’s Welfare Organizatio?i fulfill certain func¬ 
tions in the field of housing. 

1. Reich Housing Commissioner. —The central policy-making and 
administrative power in the field of housing is vested in the Reich 
Housing Commissioner, who has taken over the functions of the Reich 
Minister of Labor in these matters. Apparently considerable use is 
made by the Commissioner of the personnel attached to the Housing 
Section of the Ministry of Labor. The Commissioner Le}^, is also 
head of the German Labor Front {Deutsche Arheitsfront). On the 
regional level, housing policies are in the hands of the Gauleiters of 
the Nazi party, who act as Gau Housing Commissioners. Their 
functions are implemented by the appointment of experts as heads of 
the Gau directorate {Gaufiihrungsstdb) of the German Housing 
Relief Scheme {Deutsches Wohnungshilfswerk). Apparently these 
officers were designed to coordinate the work of the local authorities 
(mayors and county chairmen) and issue regulations and instructions 
to them. 

2. Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production. —Various in- 

29 
































































stnimentalities of Speer’s Ministry of Arinanients and War Produc¬ 
tion {Reichsm'mistenum fur Rustung ttnd KriegsproduHion) partic¬ 
ipate in the i-egiilation of construction work. These instrumental¬ 
ities include the Office for Construction {Amt Ban), to which in turn 
there are attached the Main Committee for Construction {Hav/p- 
tausschuss Bau), the Economic Group “Construction industry” 
{Wirtschaftsgi-nippe B auindustrie), and the office of the Eeich Com¬ 
missioner for Wood Construction {Reiehsheavftrngter fur den 
HolBbau). 

a. The Main Gonimittee for Gonstmction {UmipiausechuHg Bern). 
This committee is designed as a self-government organ of the construc¬ 
tion industry. It consists of the directors of Special Committees 
{Sonderausschiisse) and operates through 16 offices {Arheitsstdbe) 
dealing with general questions, machinery, labor supply, technology, 
improvement of production, standardization, transportation, admin¬ 
istration and organization, stone and earth, timber, steel, and small 
enterprises. The Special Committees are centrally organized for 
the Reich and coordinated by the Main Committee. On the re¬ 
gional level the Main Committee operates through Regional and 
Gau Deputies {Bezirhs- und Ganheauftragte) for the area of each 
military district {RiistungsinspeJetion). In conjunction with the 
Special Committees, the Regional and Gau Deputies supervise the 
work of Special Agents {Bezirkliche Vertrauensmanner) who are ap¬ 
pointed for the area of each military district and for each quota 
claimant (i. e. the army, air force. Organization Todt, railways, postal 
administration, etc.) if the cuiota claimant lias several projects in the 
military district. The Special Agents coordinate the various proj¬ 
ects of the quota claimants and supervise the work of committees 
{Arheitsausschusse) which operate directly on each larger construc¬ 
tion project, supervising it and directing the utilization of labor, 
machinery, and materials. These committees are composed of experts 
who have knowledge of local conditions. 

The Main Committee, the Special Committees, and the regional 
deputies use the existing machinery of the Economic Group “Con- 
.struction Industry” and of the Reich Guild “Handicraft.” 

h. Economic Group ^^Goyistruction Industry'*'’ {Wirtschuftsgruppe 
Bauindust'fie) . The construction indirstry is organized in the Eco¬ 
nomic Group “Construction Industry.” A brief summary of the 
structure and organization of this Group is given in Appendix A. 

c. Reich Gonmdssioner for Wood Gonstruction {Reichsbeauftragter 
fiir den ITolzbau). This agency, which is attached to the Office for 
Construction in the Ministry of Armaments and War Production, 
has important functions in the allocation of timber for housing con¬ 
struction. The agency is closely connected with the wood construc¬ 
tion cartel {Deutscher Holzverband) . On the regional level, the 
Commissioner operates through regional deputies and utilizes the 
offices of the cartel. 

3. Comrnlssionei' General for the ReguJaHos-j of ihe BuiJdhiy "ndustry 
(GeneraibevoSSmdehtigter fiir the Iterjelung der Eauv/bischaft).—This 
office, which is held by Minister Speer,^ is apparently part of Goer- 

1 Speer holds the following positions: in charge of preparatory works pertaining to the 
post-war reconstruction of bolnbeti cities, ^Minister for Armaments and War Production, 
Commissioner General for Armament Tasks in the Four-Year Plan Office, Inspector Gen¬ 
eral for Water and Energy, Inspector General for Roads, Commissioner General for the 
Regulation of the Rnilding Industry. 


30 



iiig’s office of Comniissiontr for the Four-Year Plan. Speer in his 
capacity as Commissioner General for the Regulation of the Building 
Industry cooperates closely with the agencies in charge of building 
in the Speer Ministry of Armaments and War Production, the func¬ 
tions of which have been outlined above. Together with the Reich 
Commissioner for Wood Construction, the General Commissioner for 
the Regulation of the Building Industry participates in the allocation 
of quotas for building materials. This part of his work is more fully 
discussed below. He has under him regional deputies {BavhevoU- 
mdchtigte) whose regions concide with the military districts. In 
general, his task has been to limit the industry’s functions to the most 
urgent needs and thus to adjust the volume of construction to the 
capacity of the industry, with a view to increasing efficiency and 
j-emoving an important factor in the rising cost of construction. 

According to recent information, the Office of Construction {Amt 
Ran) in the Speer Ministry of Armaments and War Production has 
apparently assumed the bulk of the functions formerly held by Speer 
as Commissioner General for the Regulation of the Building Industry. 
It is stated that only “basic decrees” are issued under the authority 
of “The Commissioner for the Four-Year Plan, Reich IVIinister Speer, 
Commissioner General for the Regulation of the Building Industry,” 
Avhile all others are issued under the authority of the Reich Minister 
of Armaments and War Production (Speer). Speer thus seems to 
have shifted the bulk of the operations in the field of construction 
from an agency operating under Goering as Commissioner for the 
Four-Year Plan to his Ministry of Armaments and War Production, 
which operates immediately under Hitler. 

4. German Labor Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront). —Although its con¬ 
nection with housing and building construction is more remote, the 
German Labor Front must be mentioned among the national agencies 
operating in the field of housing. The Labor Front has promoted 
building assistance schemes and related developments. Its housing 
agencies (Reich Housing Office or Reichsheimstdttenamt^ and Gau 
Housing Offices) are charged with the direction of all housing meas¬ 
ures taken by the organizations of the Nazi party, the Labor Front and 
affiliated organizations. The work of the state authorities (mayors, 
county chairmen) , in turn, is coordinated by the Gau Housing (Com¬ 
missioners operating under the Reich Housing Commissioner (see 
above). 

5. National Socialist People’s Welfare Organization (NationalsoziaS- 
istiscbe Volkswohlfahrt, NSV).— Tlie NSV has some limited functions 
in the field of housing. For example, its Main Office for People’s 
Welfare {Hauptamt fur Volkswohlfahrt) was instrucated early in 
1943 to prepare an inventory of facilities which could be made avail¬ 
able for evacuated persons. The NSV also participates in the re¬ 
muneration of proprietors whose dwellings have been used for billet-, 
ing, and has had some functions in connection with repair and alter¬ 
ation of existing buildings. 

The functions of the public housing agencies are divided into new 
construction, emergency measures such as repairs, alteration, and 
reconversion, and housing finance. 


31 


B. New Construction 

In a Decree of 15 ^Nlarch 191a tlie Reich Housing Commissioner had 
prohibited, for the duration, tlie construction of regular housing facil¬ 
ities of normal type, ^Yith provisions made for exceptions which would 
require individual permits. In general, the Decree provided that all 
housing construction work must be executed upon the basis of war¬ 
time standardization and be limited to the erection of emergency 
facilities. 

In later decrees, the Reich Housing Commissioner specified the 
procedures for financing wartime housing construction. The wartime 
construction projects are administered by the municipalities, which 
in turn may utilize the cooperation of the nonprofit housing corpora¬ 
tions. (See Appendix B.) 

The lot is to be made available by the municipalities, by expropria¬ 
tion if necessary. However, if the expense involved in the acquisition 
of the lot cannot be borne by the municipality, a grant may be pro¬ 
vided by the Reich. The Reich will also advance the construction cost 
without requiring mortgage security. If the municipality utilizes the 
services of a nonprofit housing corporation, an allowance for the ad¬ 
ministrative expenses of the latter may be added to the construction 
cost. If the dwellings are to be used by members of a specific busi¬ 
ness concern, the latter must make a contribution to the construction 
cost. This contribution is not construed as a loan. 

No interest or amortization is determined for the funds advanced 
for the construction cost by the Reich. These advances are to be re¬ 
paid by the municipalitieg in accordance with future regulations, and 
it is promised that the amount to be paid will be in relation to the 
definitive value of the dwellings as determined at some future date. 
In consequence it is expected that a varying proportion of the advances 
made by the Reich will not have to be repaid by the municipalities. 

Tenants of the newly constructed dwellings must pay an equitable 
rent to which the Reich will not make any contribution. The munici¬ 
pality may retain a portion of the rent necessary to cover current 
expenses and interest on the purchasing price for the ground. The 
rest must be paid into an account at the disposal of the Deutsche Bau- 
and Rodenbank, an instrumentality of the Reich. 

Requisitions for the construction of standardized barracks can orig¬ 
inate from six different sources. 

a. The armed services, each of the four branches acting inde¬ 
pendently. 

h. The Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of the German Police. 

c. The General Commissioner for the Regulation of the Building 
Industry. 

At present requests for barrack construction are centrally collected 
by these six agencies and then transferred to the Reich Commissioner 
for Wood Construction {Reichsbeauftragter fiir den Holzhau), who, 
in conjunction with the wood construction cartel {Deutscher Holzban- 
verhand) and the General Commissioner for the Regulation of the 
Building Industry, is in charge of overall quotas for necessary 
materials. 

The production of barracks is highly standardized and concentrated 
among the most efficient firms. 

The Reich Commissioner for Wood Construction assigns the orders 


32 


tor barracks construction to the individual firms distributing orders 
so as to minimize the burden on transportation. 

For the duration of the war new lending operations on the part of 
the traditional institutions providing long-term credit for housing 
construction, i. e., of the mortgage-bond institutions, savings banks, 
and insurance companies, have been eliminated. No mortgage bonds 
can be issued. To some extent at least these measures are designed 
to eliminate from the market for long-term investments any securities 
which would compete with the issues of the Reich. 

The relative importance of the various institutions before the war 
can be seen from the following table showing urban mortgages of 
institutional lenders in Germany, 31 December 1937: ^ 


Amount of urban 
mortgages held, 

Credit mstitution : in Reichsmarks 

Banks_ 22, 300,000 

Savings banks_ 6, 0 .j5, 000, 000 

Urban cooperative banks_ _ * 150, 000,000 

Mortgage banks_ 7, 459, 500, 000 

Private life insurance companies_ 1,983, 500, 000 

Public life insurance institutions_:__ 284,400,000 

Social insurance institutions_ 1, 394, 600, 000 


Total_-_ 17,349,300,000 

' Estimated. 


The mortgage banks and related institutions issue bonds which are 
fiuoted on the stock exchange and from the proceeds of these bonds 
grant credit secured by mortgages. Most of their credit transactions 
concern first mortgages and the loans are usually limited to 40-60 
percent of the value of land and buildings unless the loan is guaranteed 
by the Reich or another public body. 

The savings banks and other lending institutions follow similar 
credit policies. 

In conclusion mention must be made of certain instrumentalities 
of the Reich and other public bodies which are active in the field of 
housing, and of special types of organizations, semipublic and private, 
which promote building activities for their members or a wider group 
of the public. 

Among the instrumentalities of the Reich, most important is the 
Deutsche Bau- und Bodenbank, the structure and operations of which 
are more fully described in Appendix B. This appendix also con¬ 
tains analyses of some of the more important types of private or semi¬ 
public organizations active in the field of building, such as the 
nonprofit housing corporations {gemeinnutzige Wohmungsunterneh- 
tnen), and Building and Loan Associations {Bausparkassen). 

C. Repair and ASferafion Works; Reconversion and More Intensive 
Utilization of Existing Facilities 

These measures are applied in conformity with a number of decrees 
which are outlined in Appendix E, below. The most important of the 
legislative measures include the following: 

a. Hitler Decree of 23 October 1942. Established Ley as Reich 

® No exact figures are available for urban mortgages of private lenders. They may be 
in the neighborhood of 7 billion Reichsmarks. 


33 













Housing Commissioner and brought the Gauleiters into positions of 
authority at the regional level. 

h. The Decree for the Eegiilation of Housing Space of 27 February 
1943 {Verodnimg zur Wohnraumle'nJcung). This Decree grants broad 
powers to Gauleiters and municipalities to locate, alter, and reconvert 
dwelling space and to establish preferred groups of occupants. 

c. The Decree for the Supj^ly of Housing Space for the Bombed- 
Out Population of 21 June 1943 {Veronlnung zur Wohnrau/inversorg- 
ung der luftkriegshetroffenen Berolkerung). This decree deals spe¬ 
cifically with requisitioning of dwelling space for bombed-out per¬ 
sons and places them in a higher priority than any other group. 
“Bombed-out persons” includes those precautionarily evacuated. 

d. First Executive Order, of 8 March 1943, dealing with the same 
matter; 

e. Second Executive Order, of 23 ^larch 1943, dealing with the 
same matter: 

f. Third Executive Order, of 27 September 1943, dealing with the 
same matter. 

g. The Keich Law on Exactions of 1 September 1939 {Reiehsleist- 
wigegesetz)^ which deals with national service in general. This law 
^ives civil authorities the power to requisition dwelling space a power 
formerly held only by the military in an emergency. These powers 
are in some respects broader than those granted under {h) above. 
This law is impiortant because the Gauleiters have no formal part in 
its execution. 

The more permanent legislative measures of the Eeich. the Tenant 
-Protection Law {Mieierschutzgesetz) and the Eeich Eent Law {Reich- 
smietengeseiz) are discussed in Appendix B. There are also legisla¬ 
tive measures of the states pertaining to police administration, such 
as, in Prussia, the Police Administration Law of 1 June 1931 {Poli- 
zeiverwaltungsgesetz) ^ which are of importance in this connection. 

These measures are to be applied by the administrative authorities 
for coping with the normal phenomena of homelessness, i. e., of home¬ 
lessness not produced by wartime conditions. They vest in the lower 
administrative and local police agencies the power of billeting home¬ 
less people and impose upon them the duty of making adequate pro¬ 
visions for coping with the described conditions. 

D. Financial Measures 

Supplementar}'^ legislative measures in the field of housing are in 
the main concerned with the settlement of the financial issues which 
arise out of the application of the emergency measures. As will be 
seen from the survey of this legislation in Appendix F, a large part 
of it is of a highly technical character, and while certain sections of 
it will no longer be applicable under military occupation owing to 
the cessation of bombing, other sections will continue to determine 
financial relationships between public bodies and landlords and 
tenants. 

The legislative measures include the following enactments of the 
Eeich Llousing Commissioner: 

a. The First Eeich Decree on Grants-in-Aid {Erster Reiehs- 
heihilfeerlass) of 8 March 1943. 


34 


b. Circular of 12 August 1943, dealing with the same matter. 

The contents of these decrees and the terms on which Reich grants 
may be obtained are more fully discussed in Appendix F, below. 

il. RECOMMENDATIONS 

A. General Organization 

During the initial period of military occupation, the provision of 
shelter will to a large degree be the business of the local authorities. 
The existing legislation in the main’ is broad enough to enable them 
to continue in the execution of this function. New operations of the 
central authorities Avill presumably be. of relatively minor importance; 
it might thus become necessary for the local agencies to assume some 
of the responsibilities previously borne by the central authorities. 
Existing legislation should, in the main, be retained for the time being. 
So-called self-help arrangements designed to enable prospective in¬ 
habitants to build the facilities they desire to inhabit should be en¬ 
couraged. 

The following more specific recommendations are designed to 
eliminate Nazi control in the field of housing, amend the existing 
legislation in certain respects, provide for the necessary financial 
arrangements and indicate the main lines which the flow of capital for 
housing construction will follow under military occupation. 

In order to eliminate Nazi control, the office of the Reich Housing 
Commissioner should be dissolved. One possibility would be to vest 
in a central German Labor authority the responsibilities of the Reich 
Housing Commissioner. The Ministry of Labor was in charge of 
housing policy during the twenties and thirties. Administration of 
the Building Assistance Schemes of the Labor Front and related 
housing activities of that organization m.aj^ also be transferred to the 
central German labor authority. 

The principal responsibility can be expected to rest with the local 
authorities (mayors, county chairmen). If the jurisdiction of the 
national authorities should extend over too wide an area, either the 
provincial presidents or, preferably, the district presidents [Regier- 
ungsprdsidenten) in Prussia, and the Ministries or corresponding 
authorities in States other than Prussia, may be entrusted with the 
fulfillment of functions in the field of housing. 

It is also recommended that the following functions be vested in the 
central German authority for labor: Speer’s jurisdiction over future 
reconstruction of cities; housing activities of the National Socialist 
People’s Welfare Organization and, in conjunction with a central 
German economics authority, supervision over activities of the “in¬ 
dustrial groups” and related bodies in the field of housing, provided 
tliat they are retained. The leading personnel of these groups is 
bound to be strongly Nazified and considerable replacement will be 
necessary if the groups are retained under military occupation. 

The Offices of the General Commissioner for the Regulation of the 
Building Industry and of the Commissioner for Wood Construction 
and the Hauptausschuss Bau are specific wartime agencies and are 
strongly under Nazi influence. It is recommended that they be dis¬ 
solved. If it is desired to maintain controls over buildings materials. 


35 


siicli controls should be exercised by the central German authority for 
labor in conjunction Avith the central authority for economics. 

The regions of a new decentralized administrative organization 
should not coincide with those of the Rmtungsinspelctionen (arma¬ 
ment inspectorates) nor with those of the Gaue? Both types of re¬ 
gional organizations are compromised by their association with 
military or Nazi party activities. 

It is recommended that the laws modifying the rules of the Civil 
Code with respect to the landlord-tenant relations, i. e., the Rent Con¬ 
trol Law and the Tenant Protection Law, be retained. At times re¬ 
stricted and at other times expanded in the range of their application, 
these laws have been in force for approximately 20 years and their 
elimination at the time of a severe shortage of housing space would 
be bound to create intolerable conditions. It is recommended, how¬ 
ever, that such amendments to these laws as have been enacted during 
the thirties, removing certain groups of the population from the pro¬ 
tection of these laws, be rescinded. Present price-control measures 
in the field of construction are outlined in Appendix D. Such meas¬ 
ures of price control as are kept in force during the period of military 
occupation should strictly be applied to building cost and the cost 
of building materials. During the occupation period some of the 
factors accounting for the increase in building cost may no longer 
operate; others may have to be met by means of suitable regulations 
and control measures as well as by a reform of such contracting pro¬ 
cedures as have developed in response to wartime exigencies. It is 
recommended that for public building during the period of military 
occupation the rules of the Verdingungsordnung fur Bauleistungen 
be enforced again. This will be feasible, however, only under a stable 
general level of prices. 

B. New Construction 

The various legislative regulations pertaining to new construction, 
financing, alteration, and repair works (Appendices E, F) should in 
the main be retained. With respect to new construction, it is recom¬ 
mended that the Decree of the Reich Housing Commissioner of 15 
March 1943 be modified in the light of such conditions as will emerge 
during the period of military occupation. At present new construc¬ 
tion is, in the main, limited to barracks, and the operations are sub¬ 
ject to a number of more or less stringent regulations. Under military 
occupation it may be possible to relax these rules gradually to the 
extent to which materials and labor are no longer absorbed by other 
tasks. It is also recommended that the system of financing new 
construction, in its principal outlines, be continued. The disposal of 
the account of the Deutsche Ban- und Bodenbank (see below. Appen¬ 
dix B) may be left with the central German authority for labor, which 
may use this fund for financing new housing construction or related 
measures of housing policy. 

In financing a long-term building program, recourse must be had 
to the various institutions providing mortgage credit. 

For some time the volume of new business of these institutions has 
been extremely small owing to the restriction on new building during 

= See Civil Affairs Guide on Territorial Units To Be Used by Military Government in 
Germany. 


36 



wartime and the absorption of private funds by the loans floated by 
the Reich. There is accumulated, however, a considerable amount 
of private savings which would under favorable conditions be avail¬ 
able for building construction. In the absence of such conditions 
much reliance will have to be placed on a publicly promoted and 
financed building program. The program itself is outlined in Part A 
of this Guide. With respect to the administrative and financial 
aspects of the matter, it will be necessary to look to public bodies 
for outright grants, credits, or guarantees. These can be obtained 
from the proceeds of taxes or from other income at the disposal of 
the Reich or other public bodies. 

There are a number of other administrative devices which will be 
found useful if it is desired to stimulate building activity. Some of 
these are as follows: 

a. Quick amortization of the new buildings for tax purposes. 

h. Exemption of income from new buildings from the income tax 
for a specified length of time. 

c. Similar exemptions from the property tax, land tax, and other 
taxes. 

d. Exemption from the real property acquisition tax {Grunder- 
werhsteuer) if land is acquired for the purposes of building 
construction. 

The Deutsche Ban und Rodenbank and similar instrumentalities 
of the Reich should be retained under military occupation and their 
top personnel subjected to strict scrutiny. The work of the nonprofit 
housing corporations and of the building and loan associations siiould 
be encouraged. Such changes in the personnel of the nonprofit hous¬ 
ing corporations and the building and loan associations as are re¬ 
quired will have to be made by the Reich Control Office for Private 
Insurance {Reichsaufsichtsamt fiir Pnvatversicherung) and other 
agencies regulating the business practices of these institutions. 

Regulation of this flow of funds into housing may assume the fol¬ 
lowing forms: With respect to real capital, allocation procedures may 
guide productive resources and manpower into such channels as are 
regarded desirable by the authorities. With respect to forms of capi¬ 
tal other than real capital, the authorities may impose restrictions 
on new issues of bonds, stocks, or other securities; it may require 
permits for investments in general and it may prohibit certain types 
of investments altogether. 

With respect to real capital (i. e., the resources required for housing 
construction), administrative and control measures in the field of 
housing will be a part of the general framework of control over pro¬ 
ductive resources as it is outlined in other Civil Affairs Guides. The 
intensity of these controls will depend on a number of factors only 
indirectly related to the general field of housing. Such factors 
include alternative uses for raw materials, degree of scarcity of the 
various materials, industrial relocation, population movements, as 
well as the general problem of the fate of the German heavy 
industries. 

'With respect to the control of investments, it is expected that for 
the initial period of military occupation the controls imposed on the 
issuance of new bonds, and related administrative measures should 
be retained. During this period much of the new work done in the 


37 


field of housing will have to be financed by means of advances by the 
central authorities. As soon as conditions become more favorable 
with raspect to private capital invastments, the controls may be 
gradually relaxed. Private investment in new housing will be facili¬ 
tated by conditions of economic and political stability as well as by 
greater certainty concerning the pattern of industrial location in 
Germany. 

For the initial period of military occupation at least it seems neces¬ 
sary to retain the miscellaneous controls which have been imposed on 
mortgages, forced sales, and real estate transactions in general. The 
time for the repayment of mortgage credit has been postponed in 
certain ways successively and continuously since the thirties. Hav¬ 
ing the mortgages come due during the initial period of military 
occupation Avould involve major upheavals on the long-term capital 
market and would greatly impede the financial operations of the 
newdy constituted authorities. For the same reason, the restrictions 
on forced sales of real estate, which have been in effect since approxi¬ 
mately the same time, should be retained. Real estate transactions 
in general are subject to the price-stop decrees and a variety of other 
controls of long standing. In order to check an inflationary raise in 
the price of real estate, it is recommended that these controls be 
retained. 

C. Repair and Alteration Works; Reconversion and More Intensive 
Utilization of Existing Facilities 

The need for special emergency facilities will vary in the different 
regions. It is thus desirable to leave jurisdiction over such facilities 
with the municipalities. They are best equipped to appraise local 
needs as well as facilities. 

The emergency facilities will largely consist of quarters which are 
suitable for housing considerable numbers of people and of housing 
facilities which are to be remodelled for that purpose. 

The most suitable buildings for such uses will be those which 
contain a large number of small rooms. Owing to the partial cessa¬ 
tion of civilian travel, the municipalities will be in a position to re- 
(piisition hotels. School buildings, army barracks, and similar quar¬ 
ters may have to be equipped with beds, facilities for cooking, and the 
like. In the case of need, large rooms in restaurants, breweries, thea¬ 
ters, and gymnasiums will be converted into dormitories. These will, 
at first, be made available to single persons. If families are to be 
housed in such quarters, partitions must be made available. 

The police power of the municipalities will supply a suitable legal 
basis for requisitioning such facilities. It will, however, be necessary 
to confer farther-reaching authority on the municipalities if the latter 
are to be enabled to requisition facilities under the jurisdiction of the 
Reich, the States, and other public bodies. 

The substance of the emergency legislation of recent years will 
have to be retained although simplification in general and modifica¬ 
tions of specific regulations are warranted. Maintenance of this 
legislation is required because of the existing shortage of dwelling 
sj^-ace which must be made available in accordance with a definite set 
of rules. The elaboration of a new system of regulations, if this is 
desired, will be a lengthy process, and the need for dwelling space 

38 


during the transitional period entails maintenance of the framework 
of existing laws. Control can be relaxed to the extent to which new 
housing facilities are constructed, but considerable time is bound to 
elapse until a new building program will have advanced far enough 
to remove the need for control legislation. 

In this connection special attention must be paid to the conversion 
of attics and garrets for housing purposes. Such conversion econ¬ 
omizes building material and can be accomplished in a short time. In 
order to facilitate such conversion, the municipalities should be in¬ 
structed to relax the provisions of building ordinances which restrict 
the use of these facilities for dwellings. 

While it is proposed to retain the substance of the emergency legis¬ 
lation, certain specific regulations should be modified. With respect 
to the Decree for the Regulation of Housing Space of 27 February 1943 
(see Appendix E), the provisions setting up “privileged,” “favored,” 
and “worthy” groups should be eliminated and replaced by objective 
standards which are open to examination and control and do not 
leave the authorities too much discretion in this matter. 

Under no conditions must it be permitted that any sort of dis¬ 
crimination either in favor of Nazi groups or against others be con¬ 
tinued. Groups to which preference might be granted under military 
occupation could include (a) families with a large number of jmung 
children; (b) persons living under housing conditions which con¬ 
stitute a health menace. 

jModifications of this Decree may also be desirable if the military 
authorities intend to control population movements by imposing cor¬ 
responding restrictions on the utilization of housing space, for exam¬ 
ple, by exempting new inhabitants from the benefits of the Decree. 

As pointed out in Appendix E, specific regulations prevail for dwell¬ 
ings built for groups of employees of a company. It may be desir¬ 
able to modify this special regulation and subject such facilities fully 
to the Decree. 

In the Executive Order of 27 September 1943 reference is made to 
the Decree for the Supply of Housing Space for the Bombed-Out- 
Population, and it is stated that this Decree shall supersede all otlier 
legislative measures in this field of housing policy, apart from the 
Reich Law on Exactions. Since this order thus makes unlawful all 
local police ordinances covering the same ground, it is recommended 
that it be amended in such a way as to enable local authorities to 
promulgate local police ordinances dealing with the provision of 
shelter for homeless persons. During military occupation recourse 
to the central administrative agencies may not always be open, and 
an elastic solution of housing problems will make it necessary to rely 
on local initiative and authority to the largest possible extent. 

r. Fincmciall Measures 

It is recommended that the S 3 ’^stem of grants for emergency meas¬ 
ures be retained. If no central organization is available to make 
grants-in-aid, the military authorities may provide means of pajunent 
in accordance with the structure of Military Government. 

With respect to the procedure provided for the making of Reich 
grants for subdivision and repair and related measures of housing pol¬ 
icy under the Decree of 8 March 1943, it is important to know that 


39 


at some earlier time the application needed the endorsement of the 
district leader {Kreisamtsleitimg) of the Nazi People’s Welfare Or¬ 
ganization (NSV, National-sozialistische VoJkswohlfahrt) At the 
present time this requirement has been eliminated presumably for 
reasons of administrative efficiency and simplification in the face of 
a growing burden of work. If it should be revived in one form or 
another, the military administrator will have to make adequate pro¬ 
visions for enabling the administrative agencies to arrive at inde¬ 
pendent decisions, or, if that should not prove feasible, for substitut¬ 
ing an endorsement of the local relief and welfare agencies for that 
of any party organization. 

In this connection mention must be made of still another activity of 
the NSV. As has been seen, Reich grants are given for repair and 
related works connected with the reconversion of dwellings and the 
like. In many cases the Reich grant was supplemented by contribu¬ 
tions from the NSV amounting to as much as 25 percent of the cost 
involved. In view of the anticipated elimination of the NSV, these 
Reich grants may often have to be given to the full extent of the ex¬ 
penses involved. Under certain circumstances, this is permitted even 
under the present law. If necessary, the law may be modified to permit 
more liberal policy in this respect. 

* See Civil Affairs Guide Public and Private Welfare in Germany. 


40 



APPENDIX A. THE STRUCTURE OF THE “INDUSTRIAL GROUPS” 
IN THE FIELD OF HOUSING AND BUILDING CONSTRUC¬ 
TION 

The top agency, Keich Group Industry {Reichsgrujype Industrie)^ 
is subdivided according to the various Industrial Groups {Wirt- 
schaftsgruppen ). 

The following are of importance for housing and building construc¬ 
tion : 

Industrial Group, Building Industry {Wirtschaftsgruppe Baiiin- 
dustrie ); 

Industrial Group, Wood Processing Industry {Wirtshafisgi^ppe 
Holzverarbeitende Industrie ); 

Industrial Group, Sawing Industry {Wirtschaftsgruppe Sdge- 
industrie ). 

The Wirtschaftsgruppe Bauindustrie has headquarters in Berlin 
W 35, Liitzow-Ufer la. In 1939 its chief was Eugen Vogler,^ of an 
Essen construction concern, and its affairs were managed by Karl 
Knecht. The Wirtschaftsgruppe Bauindustrie is subdivided by 
regions and by specializations. There are 16 Regional Groups 
{Bezirksgruppen), 5 Specialized Subgroups {Fachabteilungen) and 
1 Collective Specialized Subgroup {Sammelfachabteilung). The 
Specialized Subgroup for Building Construction Above Ground 
{Fachabteilung Hochbau) is again departmentalized by specializa¬ 
tions {Fachunterabteilung). It comprises, for example, a department 
for dwellingconstruction ( Fachunterabteilung Wohmungsgeschosbau ). 
The chief of both the Subgroup for Building Construction Above 
Ground and the Department for Dwelling Construction is Max 
Kniittel of the Berlin construction concern Boswau & Knauer. 

The Wirtschaftsgruppe Holzverarbeitende Industrie has a Sub¬ 
group {Fachgruppe) Building Accessories Industry {Bauzubehbr- 
industrie) with Departments {Fachabteilungen) for Inlaid Floors 
{Parkett) ; Doors and Windows {Turen und Fenster) ; Blinds {Rol- 
laden) ; Wood Pavement and Wood Pipes {Holzpfiaster und 
Holzrchre) ; Pipe and Wood Fabric {Rohr- und Holzstabgewebe). 
It also has a Subgroup {Fachuntergruppe) for Wooden Building 
Construction {Iledzbauindustrie) ; its chief Mekelnburg, and its 
Manager, Baum, maintain offices at Berlin SW 11, Saarlandstr, 
101-103., This Subgroup has the following Departments {Fach- 
abteilungen) ; Wooden Building, Halls and Barracks Construction 
{Holzhaus-, Ilallen- und Barachkenbau) \ Greenhouses {Gewdchs- 
haus-und Friihbeetfenster ). 

The Wirtschaftsgruppe Sage-industries has a Subgroup Wood for 
Impregnation Works {Fachgruppe Holzimpragnierwerke) and an¬ 
other for Plane Works {Hobelwerke). 

^ Vogler was appointed "Vertrauensmann fur die gesamte Organisation der gewerhlichen 
Wirtschaft, sowcit sie die Bauwirtschaft herilhrt.” 


41 



APPENDIX B. THE DEUTSCHE BAU- UND BODENBANX, NON¬ 
PROFIT HOUSING CORPORATIONS, AND BUILDING AND 
LOAN ASSOCIATIONS 

1. Ainon^ the instrumentalities of the Reich, the Deutsche Bau- 
und Bodenbank is most prominent in the field of housing and building 
construction. This Bank, whicli was organized some clecades ago, 
acts as a sort of fiscal agent in these matters and its ]msition can be 
compared with the corporations affiliated with the RFC in the United 
States. Its stock is held, to a large extent, by the Reich, while the 
remainder was, some years ago, in the portfolios of the States, munic¬ 
ipal associations and semipublic bodies engaged in housing construc- 
tion. 

2. A prominent role in the field of building is performed by non¬ 
profit housing corporations {gemeinnutzige Wohnwigsuntemehmen) ^ 
of which there are approximately 3,800 in Germany. They embrace 
among others, the Baugenossenschaften (building cooperatives). They 
own some 1,344,000 dwellings, or roughly 7 percent of the total. Their 
imi^ortance is characterized by the fact that they built 589,000, or ap¬ 
proximately one-third, of all dwellings completed between 1933 and 
1940. 

The activities of these corporations are regulated by the Law of 29 
February 1940 {Wohnungsgemeinnutzigkeitsgesctz). They are 
united in an Association, the Reichsverhand des deutschen gemein- 
nutzigen 'Wohnungswesen^. The Law and the model charter issued by 
the association cite as the principal function of the corporation the 
administration of dwellings. Specifically’’ they build or acquire dwell¬ 
ings, lease and maintain them, and may also accept deposits and 
savings of their members. In this way the corporations have accumu¬ 
lated considerable funds which are available for financing new 
building. 

3. Building and Loan Associations {Bausparkassen) have acquired 
only local importance in Germany. In recent years they have in the 
main been engaged in accumulating funds for the use of their members 
in the future wlien building activity in general would no longer be 
hampered by wartime restrictions. Members have not been able to 
utilize the amounts due to them for building but have been forced by 
conditions to leave their accounts with the Building and Loan Associa¬ 
tions. The Associations provide first as well as second mortgages and 
it is especially as lenders of second mortgages that they fulfill a much 
needed function. 

There are altogether about 5,000 Building and Loan Associations. 
The number of new contracts with depositors rose from 17,000 in 1939 
to 54,000 in 1941; the increase presumably reflects the increase in in¬ 
comes and the declining volume of opportunities for immediate con¬ 
sumption. In more recent years the business has continued to increase. 

APPENDIX C. TENANT PROTECTION LAW AND RENT 
CONTROL LAW 

The Tenant Protection Law {Misterschutzgesetz) is based upon 
the j)rkiciple that, in view of the limited opportunities for tenants 
to select dwellings, the termination of existing leases and the eviction 


42 


of tenants are to be restricted to a specified number of cases and to be 
achieved by means of a suitable legal procedure before the courts and 
special offices of the municipalities. Thus the effects of a notice on the 
part of the landlord are severely limited. 

The Kent Control Law {Reichamietengesetz) fixes the rentals in 
buildings completed before 1 July 1918 as percentage of the rentals 
charged on 1 July 1914 (pre-war rent). The present rate has been 
110 percent since 1 January 1932. Originally all residential and 
business premises were subject to the Law, but business premises and 
the larger residential dwelling were exempted at times. The Price 
Stop Decree, which prohibits price increases as of 18 October 1936, 
does not apply to rentals which are subject to the provisions of the 
Kent Control Law. It applies, however, to other rentals, i. e., rentals 
for buildings completed after 1 July 1918 and rentals exempted from 
the Rent Control Law. 

With respect to rentals subject to the Price Stop Decree, increases 
are permitted only under the hardship clause with the consent of the 
price authority. The municipal governments have been appointed 
price authorities in all matters pertaining to rentals. 

APPENDIX D. PRICE CONTROL 

The prices of building material have risen more sharply in recent 
years than other prices. Although most of the increase occurred 
during the thirties, the special character of wartime building, which 
to a considerable extent consisted of construction work of a nature 
quite different from that of peacetime building construction, has in¬ 
creased the cost of building. In a decree of 8 March 1943, the 
Reich Price Commissioner referred to the following factors as con¬ 
tributing to the increase in the prices of building materials: 

1. With respect to the contractors: 

a. The rapidity with vdiich construction work must be accom¬ 
plished ; 

h. Low productivity of labor, especially of foreign labor; 

c. Elimination of competition; 

d. Exploitation of the favorable market situation. 

2 . With respect to the proprietor of the building to be erected: 

a. Insufficient planning and preparation; 

h. Incomplete description of the required building; 

c. Defective formulation of the building contract; 

d. Defective price control. 

The increase in building cost is reflected by the fact that, in the sub¬ 
urban small settlements, net construction costs have increased from 
RM 16.48 in 1935 to KM 24.18 in 1941 per cubic meter of dwelling space. 
These figures do not include expenses for the acquisition of land, clear¬ 
ing, road building, and the personnel overhead for planning and super¬ 
vision, but they reflect the changes in the prices of building material, 
in wages, and in types and methods of building construction. The in¬ 
crease was most rapid during the late thirties when an annual increase 
in cost of from 11 to 13 percent occurred. The smaller increase (by 
.6 percent) in 1940 and the decrease by 1.8 percent in 1941 presumably 
reflect a simplification in construction and material. 

Regional and local variations in building cost are determined largely 


43 


by the size of the community in question. The costs were in excess of 
the average for the Keich in East, Central, and Northwest Germany; 
they fell short of the average in West and South Germany. 

The cost of building is subject to the following regulations: 

1. The Regulation of Building Prices {Baupreisordnung) ^ which 
was passed shortly before the war ; 

2. Tlie Rules for the Determination of Prices upon the Basis of the 
Cost of Building for Public Agencies {Leitsdtze fur die Preisermit- 
tlung auf Grund der Selhstkosten hei Baudeistmigen dfJentUcher Auf- 
traggeher) , or “LSBO.” 

3. Paragraph 22 of the War Economics Decree {Kriegswirtschafts- 
verordnung^ which imposes a general duty to lower prices. 

It was held by the authorities that the formulation of standardized 
prices was not feasible in the field of building owing to the existing 
differentiation. 

The new organization of the building industry in 1943 and the organ¬ 
ization of the building industry in the “Hauptausschuss Bau” was 
bound to aggravate further the price situation by facilitating mo¬ 
nopolistic arrangements on the part of the constructors. It was thus 
held desirable to make price control more effective by a more intensive 
participation of the price agencies in the formulation of the contracts, 
by greater reliance on expert auditors and cost accountants, and by the 
elaboration of a suitable master contract. The Regulations for Con¬ 
tracts for Public Buildings {Verdingimgsordnimg fur Bauleistungen^ 
VOB) established as a rule a fixed-price contract. This, however, has 
been superseded during the war by a variety of cost-plus contracts. 

APPENDIX E. EMERGENCY LEGISLATION PERTAINING TO 
THE UTILIZATION OF EXISTING DWELLINGS 

1. The Decree for the ??egu!c3tion of Housing Space of 27 February 
1943 

The Decree for the Regulation of Housing Space authorizes the Dis¬ 
trict Housing Commissioners {Gaimohmingskommissare) and the 
municipalities and associations of municipalities {Gememden and Ge- 
mcindeverhande) to make local or regional ordinances designed to— 

a. locate unoccupied dwelling space. 

1). rebuild and alterate existing dwellings with a view to making 
available new dwelling space, 

<?. reconvert dwelling space which has been converted to other uses, 

d. create priorities for the use of dwelling space by preferred groups 
for the population. 

By exercising their jurisdiction in a concrete case, the authorities 
create a lease contract, the lessee being protected by the provisions of 
the Tenant Protection Law. 

“The “privileged” and “favored” groups include the following : 

Privileged: 

а. War disabled of Grade IV. 

б. Holders of the Oak Leaves to the Knight’s Cross. 

c. Families of victims of the present war who have lost more than 
two members of the family by war action. 

d. Deserving families with at least five children not yet of age and 
residing permanently in the household. 


44 


e. Deserving families who have lost their homes by enemy action, 
or Avhose present homes constitute threats to life, health, or morale. 

Favored: 

a. Families of war disabled of Grades II and III with at least one 
child not yet of age in the household. 

h. Holders of the Knight’s Cross. 

c. Families of victims of the present war with at least two children 
not yet of age in the household, when either the husband or at least one 
son has been killed by enemy action. 

d. Deserving families with at least four children not yet of age 
permanently living in the household. 

The priority of the “privileged” groups ranks higher than that of 
the “favored.” As can readily be seen, these groups extend over so 
large a number of persons that nonpriority people have little chance 
of obtaining a dwelling. On the other hand, the favored and priv¬ 
ileged groups are so large relatively to the available facilities that the 
local authorities have too much discretion in the actual distribution of 
dwellings. 

“Worthy” bombed-out families once were placed on an equal footing 
with the preferred groups of the population. This general rule was, 
however, modified and limited to inhabitants of officially determined 
evacuation or reception areas in order to restrict the movements of 
bombed-out people. 

In the Executive Order of 27 September 1943 reference is made to 
the application of the Decree to dwellings erected for specific groups 
of employees with the help of the concern which employs them {Werk- 
luehnimgen^ werk'geforderte Wohnungen ). The Decree had provided 
that such dwellings should be exempted from its provisions, provided 
that within a given region at least 10 percent of the dv ellings of one 
concern are inhabited by tenants belonging to the preferred groups of 
the population. If the proportion of dwellings thus inhabited is less 
than 10 percent, the municipality must allocate the dwellings which 
are made available under the terms of the Decree to persons of the 
preferred groups who are, or will become, employees of the concern. 
In cases where the concern owns less than 10 but more than 2 dwellings 
in a given region, at least 1 dwelling must be used by persons belonging 
to the preferred groups. 

With respect to the reconversion of dwelling space which has been 
converted to other uses, the Decree provides ^ that ordinances may be 
issued by which business enterprises may be requested by the munici¬ 
pality to clear the facilities occupied by them. If they need other 
facilities, this request may only be made if they are notified of alter¬ 
native space. Landlords are required to put the building in such 
condition that it can again be used as a dwelling or to permit such 
steps on the part of the municipality. 

According to the Decree of 8 March 1943 a time limit is no longer 
placed on the conversion of dwellings. It is at present possible to 
request reconversion of dwellings even though they have been con¬ 
verted to other uses before 20 April 1936. 

The Decree makes it lawful for a municipality to requisition facili¬ 
ties utilized by business enterprises even though they are not composed 


2 The Decree goes beyond earlier provisions, for example, those of the Decree on the 
Prohibition of Conversion of 14 August 1942 (Verordnuno uher das Verhot der Zweckent- 
fremdung ). This decree had made it unlawful to convert dwelling space to other uses. 


45 



of converted, dwellings, provided that they are not utilized to the 
fullest possible extent. Landlords are required to make space of this 
type available to concerns which had to give up their facilities for 
reconversion. 

A special situation existed with respect to the reconversion of space 
which was originally not intended to serve as a dwelling but was later 
on converted to a dwelling. Since the Decree of 14 August 1942 makes 
it unlawful to convert dwellings to other uses, it was apparently not 
permitted to reconvert space which was originally not intended to 
serve as a dwelling but later on was converted to a dwelling. In con¬ 
sequence, people were hesitant to convert other facilities to dwellings 
because they feared that they would not be permitted to reconvert such 
facilities. Such conversion, however, was held highly desirable and it 
can be expected to continue to be desirable under military occupation. 
On 19 March 1943 the Keich Housing Commissioner stated his general 
willingness to permit the reconversion of facilities of the described 
character to business purposes at the proper time, i. e., at a tircie when 
the need for business facilities would be more pressing while the need 
for dwelling space would have abated. 

At present the time when reconversion work is undertaken and the 
extent to which it is carried out depend on the volume of repair and 
alteration work involved and on the regulation of the authorities in 
charge of the various raw materials and of labor. 

The applicability of the Decree for the Regulation of Housing Space 
is limited in that it: 

a. facilitates only the utilization of unoccupied dwelling space; 

h. provides only for the allocation of a regular dwelling; 

o. provides for allocation to family units; 

d. provides for priorities with groups and individuals competing 
for available facilities. 

The decree must therefore be supplemented by the Decree for the Sup- 
pi}^ of Housing Space for the Bombed-Out Population and Reich Law 
on Exactions. 

2. The Decree for the Supply of Housing Space for the Bombed-Out 
Population of 21 June 1943 

This Decree is designed to make the following types of dwelling 
space available to bombed-out persons: 

a. Subsidiary dwellings {Nchenicohmingen) ; 

1). Enlarged dAvellings {Aushauwohnwngen) ; 

c. Converted dwellings {zweckentfremdefeWohnungen). As in the 
case of the Decree for the Regulation of Housing Space, measures taken 
under this Decree create lease contracts, but the lessee is not protected 
by the Tenant Protection Law. Unless a building program gets under 
way in a relatively short time, it may be desirable to extend the pro¬ 
tection of this law to lessees who have obtained dwellings under the 
Decree. 

In general, the Decree provides that at least as many persons may 
be assigned to a dwelling as there are rooms in it. Rooms as defined 
in the Decree cover at least 10 quadrat meters. Kitchen, bath, and 
such space as is used in tlie exercise of an occupation are not counted 


46 


as rooms. According to an official interpretation by tbe Reich Hous¬ 
ing Commissioner of 28 July 1943, the number of persons accommo¬ 
dated may, in case of need in excess of the standard, be set by the Decree. 

If a tenant is given notice, the municipality is under duty to provide 
other facilities for him. 

3. The Reich Law on Exactions 

The Reich Law on Exactions {Rewhsleistungsgesetz) of 1 Septem¬ 
ber 1939 authorizes the local authorities, acting as agents of the Reich, 
to requisition facilities under the following conditions: 

For billeting purposes, rooms and space are to be made available 
insofar as the provider of the billet is not thereby prevented from 
using rooms and space indispensable for his own dwelling, industrial, 
professional, or trade needs. This accommodation may consist of 
billets for persons, stables, and covered places for animals and trans¬ 
port, arms, and tools, and such workrooms, offices, space, and storage 
room as are necessary. 

The Reich Law on Exactions is designed to provide temporary 
dwelling space for any group of persons. It has been used for the 
provisional accommodation of bombed-out persons, and in cases where 
the space, made available under the provisions of the Decree for the 
Supply of Housing Space for the Bombed-out Population did not 
suffice. 

The application of this Decree and the Reich Law on Exactions 
has been interpreted in a decree of the Reich Minister of the Interior 
and the Reich Housing Commissioner of 28 July 1943. According to 
this Decree, the following differences between the Decree and the Law 
must be considered: 

a. The Law facilitates the accommodation of any group of people 
provided that their accommodation is helpful in accomplishing an 
objective of the Reich. The Decree facilitates the accommodation of 
bombed-out persons only. 

h. Under the Law, the prospective landlord is not entitled to select 
specific individuals for making available to them dwelling space in 
accordance with the provisions of the Law. Under the Decree, he is 
given time for selecting specific bombed-out persons; only, if he does 
not make such selection, he must acce^yt such persons as are billeted 
with him by the authorities. 

c. Under the Law, household furnishings in the possession of the 
prospective landlord must be made available; under the Decree, the 
landlord may or may not make such furnishing available. 

d. LTnder the Law, the relationship between the municipality and 
the owner of the facilities is one of public law. The latter has no 
access to the ordinary law courts in such matters as rent payment and 
eviction. For eviction, application must be made to the municipal 
billeting office, and payments for the use of the facilities are deter¬ 
mined under a special procedure provided by the Law. Under the 
decree, a lease contract is created between the owner of the facilities 
and the person assigned to him. The latter does not enjoy the protec¬ 
tion of the Tenant Protection Law and can thus be given notice. Dis¬ 
putes between the landlord and tenant are decided by the ordinary 
law courts. 


47 


APPENDIX F. FSNANCIAL MEASURES DESIGNED TO FACIL¬ 
ITATE MORE INTENSIVE UTILIZATION OF EXISTING 
DWELLINGS 

The Decree on Grants-in-Aid of 8 March 1943 states that Reich 
grants are given for the following purposes: 

a. Subdivision of dwellings and alterations of buildings with a 
view to gaining additional dwellings, provided that the subdivision 
j)roduces at least two, and the alteration one, independent dwellings. 
The term alteration includes the construction of an additional top 
story as well as construction work in the attic; it also includes the 
conversion of industrial or other facilities to dwellings. 

h. Improvement of housing conditions of families with at least 
three children. In this case the improvement need not produce an 
“independent dwelling,” and the contribution is granted without 
regard to the nature of the dwelling (home, rented quarters, etc.). 

Grants for these purposes are given with the proviso that the dwell¬ 
ings or parts of dwellings may exclusively be used as dwellings dur¬ 
ing a period of 5 years and that the rental, if they are rented, must 
be “adequate” as determined by the housing authorities. 

The grant is normally 50 percent of the total cost. In special 
cases it may be raised to 75 percent provided that no other eco¬ 
nomical method of financing is feasible. It may be raised to 100 
percent if the proprietor cannot reasonably be expected to contribute 
to the cost, as, for example, if the total rentals of the subdivided 
facilities fall short of the previous rental, or if they would not 
suffice for adequate interest on and amortization of the proj^rietor’s 
expenses for the subdivision. 

In place of that part of the grant which would exceed 50 percent 
of the cost, the Reich may give a loan, provided that the subdivision, 
alteration, or other change of the facilities produces new dwellings 
and thereby results in an additional yield from the building. The 
minimum loan is RM 200. Interest on the loan is 3 percent (which 
may be reduced in cases of hardship and the like) and 1 percent is 
added for amortization. Loans are granted if the additional yield 
under sound management suffices for servicing them. 

c. Grants may also be given for repair and supplementary works 
connected with the reconversion of dwellings which have been used 
for other iiurposes, as well as for other measures of housing policy. 
Repair works are defined as activities designed to remove defects 
of the building. Supplementary works include additions or installa¬ 
tions which increase the value of the facilities over a time, such as 
electrical, gas heating, air conditioning, bath, and toilet installations. 

In these cases the grant is normally 50 percent of the cost and may 
be increased to 100 percent if this is necessary and the proprietor 
cannot reasonably be expected to contribute to the cost. 

In cases of repair and other works which do not facilitate the recon¬ 
version of a dwelling but are intended to make the dwelling inhabit¬ 
able, grants amounting to 50 percent of the cost may be given. The 
percentage may be increased to 75 percent if this is necessary in order 
to avoid economic dilficulties for the apiilicant. As has been seen, 
grants of this type have often been supplemented by contributions of 
the Nazi People’s Welfare Organization (NSV). 


48 


According to the Circular of 12 August 1943 these grants may also 
be given with a view to facilitating the reconversion of stores, offices, 
and other space, if it is intended to make these facilities available to 
business concerns which have been removed from converted facilities. 

d. Emigration from places where housing facilities are in extremely 
short supply, and evacuation of large dwellings. 

In these cases contributions are given to the cost of moving unless 
it takes place for reasons exclusively connected with the interests of 
the mover. The grant is 50 percent but may be increased to 100 per¬ 
cent if this is necessary and the applicant cannot reasonably be expected 
to contribute to the cost of moving. 

If the mover cannot find a dwelling which would be available at the 
same rental which he paid before, or if he cannot be expected to be 
satisfied with such a dwelling, and must consequently pay a liigher 
rental, the Reich may pay the difference between the previous and 
present rentals for 3 years. 

e. Compensation of losses on the part of the landlords for damages 
suffered through measures taken in application of the Decree for the 
Regulation of Housing Space of 27 February 1943 or the Decree on 
the Conversion of Dwellings of 14 August 1942. 

If landlords had to stand a loss of rentals in consequence of these 
measures, they may receive a grant amounting to five times the annual 
difference between previous and present rentals. 

According to the Circular of 12 August 1943 tenants who have sublet 
the whole or part of their dwelling may receive corresponding grants 
to the extent to which their rent has suffered a curtailment in conse¬ 
quence of measures described in section 5 above. 

Grants of the types described in the preceding pages are not to be 
given for the repair or restoration of buildings which have been de¬ 
stroyed or damaged in the course of warfare. Such grants are given 
in accordance with the provisions of the War Damage Decree {Kriegss- 
ohddenverordnung) of 30 November 1940. 

The financing of emergency shelter facilities for bombed-out persons 
is more fully dealt with in a circular of the Reich IMinister of the 
Interior of 5 February 1943. 

Loans for barracks construction are provided in a Decree of the 
Reich Minister of Labor of 15 September 1942. This Decree is de¬ 
signed to make available facilities to business concerns in place of 
those which have been cleared for purposes of reconversion to dwell¬ 
ings. The Decree states that, if barracks would supply suitable facil¬ 
ities for the business, the municipalities may finance such barrack 
construction by means of loans to be granted by the Reich, The loans, 
which will be given only if the municipalities themselves make an 
adequate contribution to the costs of barrack construction, must in 
general be amortized at the rate of 5 percent per year, and the interest 
in general is 3 percent. However, if the rentals from the barracks are 
not expected to produce the amounts required for servicing the loans 
to the described extent, interest may be forgiven and amortization 
reduced to 1 percent. 


49 


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Albrecht, Gerhard, Gut, Albert, and others. UavdiDurterhuch des 
Wohnu7igswessens. Jena, Gustav Fischer, 1930. 

“Die Entwicklung der Baukosten,” Volkkcher Beohachter, 12 Janu¬ 
ary 1941. 

“Die Finanzierung des Wohnungsbaues,” Die Deutsche Volkswhd- 
schaft. August 1943, pp. 667-68. 

“Die Lenkung des Barackenbaues,” Die Deutsche Volkswirtschaft^ 
July 1943, pp. 637-38. 

DNB, 28 and 29 January 1944. 

“Erfassung der Unterkiiiifte durch die NSV,” Der deutsche Volkswirt^ 
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Geschuftsf uiirung der lleichsgruppe Industrie, Gliedcrung der Reichs- 
gmppe hidushve Second ed. June 1939. Leipzig, Liilie & Co. 
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Kokotkicwicz, Gerhard, Der Iminohiliarkredit. Berlin, Keimar Hob- 
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“Massnahinen zur Wohnraumlenkung und Wohnraiimverscrg’ung,” 
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“Preisdiszii^lin auch fiir die Bauwirtschal’t,” Volkischer Beohachter^ 
16 January 1944. 

“Rvickwandlung zweckentfremdeten Wohnraumes,” Die Deutsche 
Volkevnrtschaft^ October 1943, pp. 860-61. 

“S'tadte Averden neu gebaut,” ^‘‘Miinchener Neuest>e Nachriehten^'' 28 
December 1943. 

“Welche Bauvertragsform soli gewiihlt Averden,” Der deutsche Volke- 
Avirt, 27 November 1942, pp. 259-60. 

Werner-Meier and Enakat, Regehmg wid Forderung des Wolvumigs- 
haues^ Carl Heymanns Verlag, Berlin, 1937. 

“Wohnungsunternehmen im Kriege,” Deutsche Bergwerkszeitung^ 8 
January 1944. 


50 


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